Krista Maier, an Advanced Term registrar with SFGPET, attended the 2nd National Palliative Care Education Conference in Adelaide,13-14 May 2004, where she presented a paper. Krista undertook a Palliative Care Special Skills Term at TQEH in 2003, and her presentation at the conference was one of the many results of this term for her. She has passed on to us the following reflections on her experience of the conference.
The conference was a really good experience. Robert Dessaix (Australian writer and broadcaster) was just amazing - listening to him was one of those experiences that is too enthralling to put into words. He spoke of what his experience with HIV has wrought for him with an eloquence that I don't think anyone could better. It was a talk that was filled with hope and a challenge to live in the present - just the things that drew me to palliative care. I think Night Letters* should be core reading for all our registrars.
The rest of the conference couldn't really live up to that, but it was still good! A lot of different ideas and templates for educational processes and some great work being done across disciplines, and particularly by an unassuming Canadian called Dr. Jose Pereira (Professor of Palliative Medicine, Edmonton) whose name I found littered all over my reading last year. He is devising ways of educating health providers in remote northern and western Canada in palliative care, using a variety of means.
My talk was attended by about 30-35 people, I'd say, and I think was pretty well received. There were too many questions for question time and there were some very positive responses afterward and requests for some of my slides.
Sam Heard from the RACGP gave the plenary after lunch and mentioned it a few times, which was gratifying, I guess.
Overall, it was a very positive and thought provoking experience. I was glad that our perspective was there and I think it was a relevant contribution.
*Night Letters, by Robert Dessaix, Picador Australia, ISBN: 0330359916
Posted on 13-05-2004
Return