Ms Jaya Jairam, Project Director, MOHAN Foundation and Dr Amit Joshi, Deputy Medical Superintendent and Transplant lead at Bombay Hospital, Indore completed the Gift of Life Institute’s (GOLI) Mini Fellowship in Organ Donation from Oct 23 to Nov 3, 2023.

MOHAN Foundation and GOLI’s agreement for mini fellowship aims at helping enhance the deceased donation and transplantation program in India through education and training of donation and transplantation professionals on the best practices in US.

The Gift of Life Donor Program being USA’s largest organ procurement organisation (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donations across eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, is a part of US’s nationwide organ and tissue sharing network run by UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). It manages all facets of the donation process, including hospitals tie-ups, putting in place hospital protocols and systems for identification and referrals in case of potential organ and tissue donors, monitoring the donor and working with the hospital to ensure hemodynamic management of brain-dead donors, counselling the family to consider organ and tissue donation, coordinating the retrieval of organs and tissues, and allocating the organs to suitable recipients as per UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) allocation policies. The associated training arm - the ‘Gift of Life Institute’ offers education and training to Transplant Coordinators, Critical Care teams and to Transplant physicians. It also has active Patient Support programs and Volunteer engagement programs.

Jaya and Amit were given an overview of all these aspects, through several didactic sessions and they were given the opportunity to shadow the transplant coordinators at several hospitals, thereby getting a practical understanding of the family conversations, donor maintenance protocols, allocation of organs through UNOS waiting list. They also witnessed the retrieval of organs, thereby getting an understanding of protocols followed, including organ perfusion process.

They were also invited to attend ‘Life and Legacy’ – a sophisticated and beautifully organised event in which the families of organ and tissue donors were honoured for their act of kindness. Recipients were invited to share about the transformative impact that transplants had on their lives, and the donor families were honoured with a medal and a wrap that was lovingly knitted by volunteers. The event was held at Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 29, 2023.