Viji Venkatesh, Region Head of India and South Asia at The Max Foundation, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I spent the whole of the first 10 days of September in Silchar at the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre on the invitation of their Director and my dear friend of decades Dr Ravi Kannan. The brief given to me was to come and spend time with the staff of his institution and conduct training programs on various Soft Skills needed to ensure they give their best to the patients they serve. Alongside these I also did sessions on Self Care for the physicians and those in Palliative and Pediatric Oncology.
What gave me even more satisfaction, if that was possible at all, was the five different Patient Support Group Meetings I conducted for those with Leukemias, Head & Neck Cancers, Women’s Cancers, Malignancies of the GI Tracts and Pediatric Cancers.
I must have met with over 150 of the committed staff and clinical team including those from the Administration, Laboratories, Housekeeping and Canteen. One thing they all have in common here is the will to serve the patients – better and better every day.
My determination to provide the best training was matched by their eagerness to learn and till the very last session this energy and eagerness remained undimmed.
We worked through communication and coping skills, understood coping strategies and attitudes, training programs for volunteers and care for the caregivers, advocacy workshops and art and drama therapy as well as story telling workshops – we left out nothing. It was eight days of non stop learning for all of us. Believe me, when you set out to teach, you’re the one who ends up learning the most.
My grateful thanks to Ravi and his indomitable wife Seetha and the team at CCHRI for hosting me and making me so very welcome.”
More posts featuring Viji Venkatesh on OncoDaily.
