MOHAN Foundation with the support of TRANSTAN (Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu) under the aegis of NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) successfully completed the one week Transplant Coordinators’ Training Programme from 21^st to 26^th August 2017 held at MOHAN Foundation, Chennai. This was the 48^th training programme conducted by MOHAN Foundation and 14^th in partnership with NOTTO. This training was supported by SBI Foundation.

There were a total of 53 delegates of varied profiles – transplant coordinators, dialysis technicians, nurses, medical social workers, physician assistants, perfusionists, counsellors, account executives, patient care executives, corporate managers from 5 states (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana) and 1 Union Territory (Puducherry) of India attended the training.

The sessions were conducted by eminent speakers from the medical/non-medical fraternity. The training covered the medical, legal and ethical, grief counselling and transplant coordination aspects relating to organ donation and transplantation.

Identifying a Potential Brain Dead Donor, Maintenance of a potential brain dead donor and Certifying brain death in children were covered by Prof. R. Raghavendran, Department of Neurosurgery, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Dr. Gomathi Karmegam, Asst. Prof. Anaesthesiology, Kilpauk Medical College and Dr. Bala Ramachandran, Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital respectively. Educative videos on the same were screened.

The Basic Concepts of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Setting up a Deceased donation programme in a hospital and Donor Stories were explained by Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director, MOHAN Foundation. Dr. Navin Jayakumar, Head, Neuro-Ophthalmology Service, Vasan Eye Care Hospital went through the timeline of successful transplants in the world. Ms Sujatha S, Manager Information Systems MOHAN Foundation spoke about the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. The progress of the Deceased donation programme in the country and the various NGOs and State level bodies were listed out by Ms. Ann Alex, Programme Associate, MOHAN Foundation. She also threw light on the various ways Public awareness could be done and the importance of it.  Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director, MOHAN Foundation updated the participants  about the Current Status of Deceased Donation in the World and Lessons from other successful transplant programs abroad. She also  spoke on how  ethical principles need to be applied to the organ donation and transplantation programme.   

The role of a Recipient Coordinator was explained by Mr. Sagayam Francis,  Executive Officer - Transplantation, MIOT  International, Ms. Pallavi Kumar, Executive Director, MOHAN Foundation, Delhi NCR (via Skype) touched on the Role of Transplant Coordinator in Deceased Donation. Mr. R. Ragavan, Transplant Coordinator, MOHAN Foundation then went on to explain the Qualities of a Transplant Coordinator with the help of Case Studies from the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Mr. Sivakumar, Senior Transplant Coordinator, Gleneagles Global Health City shared the importance of Documentation and Financial assistance in Live Donation and Transplantation. The skills required to  counsel a family and  grief counselling were covered by Mr. Nethaji, Program Manager, SRM Institutes for Medical Science followed by an educative video to get a better understanding on how approach a family by NHS Blood and Transplant, UK.  Mr. Senthil Kumar, Transplant Coordinator, Government Stanley Hospital listed out the procedures involved in Medico-legal Cases.

Dr. Jacob Jamesraj, Senior Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon, Madras Medical Mission, enlightened the participants on Tissue Donation, Banking and Transplant – Heart valves (Homografts). An educative film on Corneal Donation & Transplantation by Dr. Srinivas K. Rao, Director, Darshan Eye Care was screened. Dr. Somesh Balakrishnan, Plastic Surgeon, Right Hospitals stressed on the importance of Skin Donation, Banking and Transplantation and the need for awareness. Dr. J Sreevidya, Senior Asst. Prof., Dept. of Anatomy, Madras Medical College gave the requirements for Whole body donation. Dr. Paul Ramesh, Apollo Hospitals covered two important topics - Heart and Lung Diseases & transplantation. Dr. M. Edwin Fernando, Prof. & Head of Nephrology, Stanley Medical College explained the various Kidney diseases and dialysis. Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation with the help of videos briefed about Kidney Transplantation, he also demonstrated how the packing of a Kidney was done. Dr. Suresh Shankar, Davita Care India Pvt Ltd elaborated on Immunosuppression and gave a brief overview on HLA and Crossmatch. Dr. S. Arulprakash, Consultant - Medical Gastroenterology, SRM Institutes for Medical Science spoke on the Basics of Liver disease & Liver Failure. Dr. R. Kamalakannan, Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant, Government Stanley Hospital elaborated on Liver Transplant.

The final day included Dr. Vimal Bhandari, Director, NOTTO speaking (via Skype) on the role of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and the various NOTTO/ ROTTO/ SOTTO’s, followed by Dr. P. Balaji, Member Secretary, TRANSTAN explaining the functions of TRANSTAN.

Special guest Dr. Narayan Babu, Dean, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital visited the Foundation to address and interact with the participants during their training. At the valedictory function, the participants received their completion certificates from Dr. P.Balaji, Member Secretary, TRANSTAN and Dr. Sunil Shroff. Dr. Vimal Bhandari was also present via Skype.