Success Story of IAPCON – 2021

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna hosted the 28^th annual conference of Palliative care, IAPCON, 2021. Due to the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, this conference was held on a virtual platform with a hybrid mode workshop. Overwhelming response was received from the participants with more than 400 registrations for conference and around 100 registrations for the workshop.

The conference began with inauguration at the site in the presence of Prof P.K. Singh (Director, AIIMS, Patna), Dr. N. R. Biswas (Director, IGIMS), Dr. L. B. Singh, Prof. U.K Bhadani (Dean and Organizing Secretary) and Dr. Chandni Sinha (scientific secretary, IAPCON). Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar, President, IAPC, Dr. Savita Butola, Secretary, IAPC also attended the inauguration on an online mode. This was followed by book inauguration of: Touching Heart Gently written by Dr. Priya Kulkarni.

The 3 day conference was held between 4 pm and 8 pm with hourly thematic sessions. This time slot was chosen for the convenience of participants from all over the world. Each session had a particular topic discussed by experienced faculties and moderated by a team leader. The topics ranged from pain management, spirituality, psychological issues, supportive care, etc. All the faculties were experts in their field with years of experience. Each session was followed by question and answers in which the queries of the participants were answered.

To encourage involvement of students, a quiz and research paper presentation was organized. Top three performers were awarded in both of these.

The workshops were conducted in a hybrid mode. The topics targeted social workers, nurses, doctors and volunteers. Faculties from AIIMS, Delhi flew in despite the ongoing pandemic.

The huge success of the conference can be attributed to the guidance of the seniors, hard work of the team and the belief in palliative care. AIIMS, Patna looks forward to many such opportunities in future.