MOHAN Foundation conducted a one-week face-to-face Transplant Coordinators’ Training Programme from March 21^st to 25^th, 2022 held at the MOHAN Foundation Office, Chennai. The training was supported by the SBI Foundation.

The training was attended by a total of 22 delegates from different parts of the country - Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The participants were from varied backgrounds such as nursing, social work, hospital administration, dialysis technology and physician assistant.

The training curriculum included a series of lectures on various topics addressed by faculty from MOHAN Foundation and experts from the field. There were a few group activities conducted during the training such as organ donation pathway, the legal forms and organ donation quiz. Educational films on brain-stem death, brain stem death testing, corneal donation and transplantation, hand transplant were shown during the training. A few simulation videos on approaching families for organ donation were also screened which was followed by a group discussion.

The MOHAN Foundation faculty board included

Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee lectured on the surgical aspects of kidney retrieval, transplantation and coordination. He also spoke about organ perfusion, benching and demonstrated packing the organs and transporting. Ms. Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director spoke on initiating deceased organ donation programme in a hospital. Ms. Sujatha Suriyamoorthi, Associate Director - Courses handled sessions on concepts of organ donation and transplantation, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA), history of transplantation and ethical aspects of organ donation and transplantation. Dr. Hemal Kanvinde, Quality Assurance Officer addressed a session on educating the public on organ donation and conducting public awareness campaigns.

The external faculty board included

Dr. Somesh Balakrishnan, Consultant - Plastic, Hand & Microsurgery, Right Hospitals who explained the process involved in skin donation, banking and transplantation. Dr. J. Sreevidya, Associate Professor, Institute of Anatomy, Madras Medical College conducted a session on voluntary whole body donation and the process involved. Dr. Jacob Jamesraj, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Madras Medical Mission gave a lecture on heart diseases and transplantation and homograft banking. Dr. A S Arunkumar, Prof & Head, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital addressed the participants on brain stem death - concept, identification, and certification. He explained the process and protocol involved in brain stem death certification. One of the key aspects in the deceased donation programme is maintaining a potential brain dead donor in the ICU. This was addressed by Dr. Gowrishankar, Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, Government Stanley Medical College & Hospital. Mr. J. Nethaji, Head - Transplant Process and Coordination discussed the topic, counselling the grieving families and approaching them for organ donation. The key elements of grief counselling, challenges involved in organ donation conversation, the do’s and don’ts were discussed.

Dr. Suresh Sankar, Nephrologist, VS Hospital & Frontier Lifeline Hospital spoke on immunological background to transplantation, immunosuppression and rejection. Dr. Edwin Fernando, Prof & Head, Department of Nephrology, Government Stanley Medical College & Hospital handled a session on kidney diseases and dialysis. His session addressed the following - acute and chronic kidney disease, the burden of chronic kidney disease in general population, replacement therapies, indications and contraindications for transplant. Mr. Ruban Victor, Senior Transplant Coordinator - Heart & Lung, Kauvery Hospital, spoke on role of a transplant coordinator in deceased organ donation programme. Coordinating with multiple stakeholders involved in deceased organ donation - In-house medical and paramedical personnel, donor families, state organ distribution agency, recipient teams, police personnel, forensic experts and media were explained. 

Dr. Arulprakash. S, Clinical Lead & Sr. Consultant, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, MGM Healthcare Pvt Ltd gave an overview on liver disease, causes, signs and symptoms, treatment and prevention. Dr. Paul Ramesh, Cardiothoracic & Transplant Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals spoke on lung diseases, causes, donor selection criteria, challenges in retrieval and transporting the lungs. Mr. I. Augustin Joe, Senior Transplant Coordinator, Apollo Hospitals addressed a session on recipient coordinators’ roles and responsibilities in Heart- Lung transplant programme. Mr. S. Senthil Kumar, Sr. Grief Counsellor & Transplant Coordinator, Government Stanley Medical College & Hospital shared his experience on deceased organ donation programme - Challenges / difficulties in a government setup. Mr. M. Sivakumar, Assistant General Manager - Liver Transplant Program, Dr. Rela Institute & Medical Centre spoke on living donor transplant coordination which included Pre-transplant counselling, donor & recipient - wok-up (medical and legal), approval and documentation, post-transplant follow-up.

A session on transplant licence was addressed by Mr. A. Johnson, Manager - Transplant Services, Kauvery Hospital Group. Mr. F. Sagayam, Executive Officer - Transplantation, MIOT Hospitals discussed a few challenging case studies experienced while coordinating deceased organ donation and living donor transplants.  

The training programme concluded successfully with a valedictory function. Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan, Former Convenor - Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) graced the occasion as special guest. Rtn. Vijayagopal Reddy, Rotary Madras Southwest (RMSW) & Managing Trustee, Dodla Parthasarathy Reddy and Lalithamma Trust also joined the function as an invited guest. ‘Transplant coordinators play a pivotal role in transplant programme and the success of this programme lies on effective coordination and counselling’, said Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan. The participants shared their feedback and received course completion certificates at the valedictory function.