21^st to 24^th July, 2014

Co-sponsored by Aayush Hospital, Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust

An interactive, technical and scientific training program to encourage health care professionals and doctors to understand, promote, and aid organ donation process was conducted for the first time at Aayush Hospital at Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

The objectives of the training program were to conceptualize the objectives of organ donation and transplantation, promote efficient application/utilization of resources to increase process results, and to increase knowledge and skills as well as increase public awareness on the importance of organ donation.

A healthcare professional mix of 30 candidates including doctors, intensive care nurses, social workers, and paramedics of government and private hospitals from different parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Delhi have attended the program and were certified by MOHAN Foundation on successful completion of the program.

Transplant Coordinators were trained to create a positive environment for the bereaved family, encouraging them to donate organs of the deceased, so that their loved ones continue to "live on", henceforth, providing a new lease of life to those with end-stage organ diseases.

The four-day training program constituted a wide range of course elements covering the basics of anatomy and physiology, processes resulting in organ failure and brain death, grief counseling, concepts of organ transplant management, including practical sessions and role plays to provide real-time insight on donation and transplantation of organs by eminent transplant surgeons as faculty.

The program was inaugurated by the Managing Director of Aayush Hospital, Dr. Gopalakrishna, and Management Committee Chairman, Dr. Y. Ramesh Babu, and Country Director of MOHAN Foundation, Ms. Lalitha Raghuram, Mr. Raghuram and Course Director, Dr. Sumana Navin of MOHAN Foundation.

We thank the management and the employees of Aayush Hospital, Vijayawada, for providing a congenial environment for the training program and also congratulate all the trainees that have successfully completed the training program.