MOHAN Foundation under the aegis of National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India and Jeevasarthakathe conducted a one week Transplant Coordinators’ Training Programme at the Institute of Gastroenterology Sciences and Organ Transplantation, Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute - Superspeciality Hospital (BMCRI - SSH), Bengaluru from 29^th October to 2^nd November 2018. There were 53 participants from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Karnataka. This was the 58^th training programme conducted by MOHAN Foundation and the 24^th in partnership with NOTTO. The training programme was supported by Tata Trusts.

Present at the inaugural function were Sri. Jawaid Akhtar. IAS, Principal Secretary to Govt. of Karnataka, Health & Family Welfare Services as the chief guest, Dr. T. S. Prabhakar, Joint Director (Medical), Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, Dr. Kishore Phadke, Convener, Jeevasarthakathe and Dr. Nagesh N S, Director - Institute of Gastroenterology Sciences and Organ Transplant as guests of honour. The MOHAN Foundation team was represented by Mrs. Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director, Mr. Shridhar Hanchinal, Honorary Director, Bengaluru, Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director, and Ms Ann Alex, Programme Associate.

Sessions on various topics such as Basic concepts of organ donation, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, Grief counselling, approaching a family for organ donation with case studies and qualities of a transplant coordinator, history of transplantation, Importance of spreading awareness to the public, Setting up a Deceased donation programme in a hospital,  were taken by Mrs. Lalitha Raghuram, Dr. Sumana Navin, and Ms. Ann Alex. Group activities, role plays and quiz on organ donation and transplantation were moderated by the team. Educative videos and awareness films were also screened during the training.

Dr. Kishore Phadke, Convener, Jeevasarthakathe spoke on the role and activities taken on by Jeevasarthakathe. Dr. Ajoy, Orthopaedic and Arthroscopy Surgeon, MSRMC and HQCO, M S Ramaiah Tissue Bank, stressed the importance of spreading awareness on Bone donation and the importance of Bone grafting. Dr. Sunil Karanth, Chairman, Critical Care Medicine, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore explained how to identify and maintain a brain dead donor. Dr. C.S. Sushrutha, Assistant Professor, Bangalore Medical College helped the participants understand the basics of liver diseases and liver failure, while Dr. Raghavendra Babu, Consultant, Department of Hepato-biliary and Transplant Surgery, Bangalore Medical College spoke on Liver Transplant, the pre-operative coordination involved and the post-operative care of  a liver transplant recipient.    

Dr. Kishan A, Assistant Professor, Institute of Nephro Urology explained Kidney diseases and dialysis. Dr. Sridhar C G, Assistant Professor, Institute of Nephro Urology spoke about pre-operative coordination and post-operative care of a kidney transplant recipient. Dr. Keshavamurthy R, Prof. & HOD, Institute of Nephro Urology elaborated on Kidney transplantation and screened videos of the surgery. Dr. Veena Vidya Shankar, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, M S Ramaiah Medical College, encouraged the participants to spread awareness on voluntary body donation and explained the process and contraindications to body donation.  Dr. Anand Subrahmanyam, Senior Cardiac Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals explained clearly the Basics of Heart Failure and Heart Transplant. Mr. Yuvaraj, Liver Transplant Coordinator, Manipal Hospital listed out the forms and the role of a transplant coordinator during living related organ transplants.

Mr.  Gipson John, Senior Transplant Coordinator, Aster CMI and Mrs. Roopa R. Hiremath, Transplant Coordinator, St. John’s Medical College Hospital shared their experiences as transplant coordinators with the help of case scenarios. Mr. Naushad Pasha, Jeevasarthakathe with the help of cases spoke on the role of the police, forensic the forms required and the role of a transplant coordinator during medico legal cases. Dr. Pallavi Joshi, Cornea Consultant, Sankara Eye Hospital explained in detail about cornea donation, banking and transplant.

Mrs. Pragya Prasun, Founder, Atijeevan Foundation through her personal experience shared the importance of Skin donation and how it is grafted. Dr. Suresh Raghavaiah, Transplant Surgeon, BGS Global explained the various aspects of pancreas transplantation. A film by Dr. Subramania Iyer was screened on Hand Transplantation. Dr. Sanjay A Pai, Consultant Pathologist and Head of Pathology, Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, in a very interesting session raised questions regarding the ethics of organ donation and transplantation.

Dr. Asha Sidd, Psychologist was a participant at the training. She shared some of her life experiences and spoke on the importance of understanding ourselves, ensuring that one did not reach the state of burnout, but if one did, how to come out of it. Mrs. Rajeshwari Channappa, participant shared her experiences of donating a part of her liver to her father. The training ended on an inspiring note with recipients such as Mrs. Reena Raju (heart transplant recipient), Founder, Light A Life, and kidney transplant recipients Mr. V. Krishnan, Mr. Vasu Sandur, President and Mr. Purnanand S, Treasurer, Kidney Patients Welfare Association sharing their experiences of waiting for an organ and life after transplantation. As an expression of gratitude to their donors they are ensuring that they live life to the fullest.  

Present at the valedictory function were Dr. Kishore Phadke, Convener, Jeevasarthakathe, Dr. Sonal Asthana, Senior Consultant – HPB & Transplant Surgery, Aster CMI to give away the completion certificates to the participants.