CPD Points
The course is accredited with 5 General and 1 Ethics CPD points from the Colleges of Medicine in South Africa – CMSA
What is the End-of-Life Care for Children course about?
When a child dies, what most people consider to be the natural order of life is turned on its head. No parent ever wants to consider the death of their child. Dreams are shattered, lives are altered, and it may take the rest of their lives to adjust to the loss. This is why memories of how a child dies and specific conversations had with healthcare professionals at the time of and following their child’s death, whether negative or positive, are likely to remain with parents forever.
Many healthcare providers also do not wish to consider what good end-of-life care for children looks like. After all, they entered their profession to heal people, not to help them die. Nevertheless, children do die and their suffering at the end of life is real and can and should be well managed. This course will help ensure that the worst experience for a family is handled with the greatest possible compassion so that after the child has died, they are not left with unanswered questions, regrets and feelings of not doing all they could to reduce their suffering, both physical and psychosocial.
Course Review
Why take the course?
“The course was excellent. It is a must for every health care provider, not just those working in paediatrics or palliative care. It was easy to navigate, very well thought of, had an appropriate use of resources and was thoroughly engaging. Even though I do this every day, I learned quite a lot and I really enjoyed doing it. It was very thought provoking and had a lot of information that I thought I could use in everyday situations, particularly with families. I would highly recommend this to everyone, and in fact, I’m keen to do more of the short courses now, just to refresh my mind.”
Dr Mehnaaz Ally
Paediatric Palliative Care Doctor
Lambano Sanctuary
WitsPal – Baragwanath Hospital