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Dr.
Pamela Sutton
with her Godmother
Barbara Ziegler |
Introduction
The Barbara Ziegler Palliative
Care Education Program (ZPEP) at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center (MSKCC) is dedicated to the promotion and advancement
of pain and palliative care education and research activities.
ZPEP builds on MSKCC's leadership in the education and training
of physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and postoral
counselors. The primary goal of ZPEP is to establish a nationally
recognized center of excellence for physicians, nurses, and
other health-care providers in pain and palliative care medicine.
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A Distinguishing
History
Twenty-five years ago Dr. Katheen
Foley founded the first pain and palliative care service within
a cancer hospital in the United States. She and her colleagues
in the Departments of Neurology and Pharmacology at MSKCC and
Weill Medical College of Cornell University performed groundbreaking
scientific research which greatly advanced the science of pain
medicine, and established as a priority in the delivery of comprehensive
cancer care. The Pain and Palliative Care Service is now the
internationally recognized leader in the evaluation and treatment
of cancer patients with pain. |
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What Is Palliative
Care
Palliative Care is defined by the
World Health Organization (WHO)
as:
"...the active care
of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment."
Palliative Care Treatment:
- Affirms life and regards death as a normal
process
- Neither hastens nor postpones death
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing
symptoms
- Integrates the psychological and spiritual
aspects of patient care
- Offers a support system to help patients
live as actively as possible until death
- Offers a support system to help the family
cope during the patients illness and in their bereavement
A major priority of ZPEP is
the incorporation of the principles of palliative care into
the routine care of all the patients with from cancer the time
of diagnosis, not only in the setting of advanced terminal disease.
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Developing, Implementing, Transforming
Education initiatives of ZPEP include:
Medical and Nursing Education:
- Development and expansion if MSKCC physician
and nursing fellowship programs in pain management, palliative
care, and end of life care
- Development and implementation of a pain
and palliative care curriculum for medical oncologists in
training at MSKCC and other cancer centers
- Integration of pain and palliative care
training into the medical student curriculum of Weill Medical
College of Cornell University and the neurology residency
training program at the Cornell campus of New York Presbyterian
Hospital
- Creation of an Education Resource Center
for oncologists, physicians-in-training, nurses, and other
health-care providers
- Establishment of an on-line pain and palliative
care curriculum including slide sets, examination, teaching
modules, and other educational materials
- Sponsorship of weekly Grand Rounds and
educational seminars to maintain MSKCC at the forefront
of pain and palliative medicine
Community Outreach:
- Sponsorship of education outreach programs
in underserved and minority communities through affiliation
with North General Hospital in Harlem
- Publication of an educational newsletter
to link palliative care health-care providers worldwide
- Publication and distribution of education
materials to patients and families
Confrences:
Sponsorship of regional and
national meetings with the goal of:
- Advancing the science of pain and palliative
medicine
- Developing strategies for optimal cancer
pain and palliative assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
- Improving doctor/ patient communications
- Developing palliative care educational
models, curricula, and standards
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