/ Palliative Care: Science + Compassion

A key component of Family Medicine’s Enhanced Skills Program, Palliative Care McGill offers rich undergraduate, post-graduate and professional education programs that draw on the expertise of our interdisciplinary teams and highlight our attention to integrated, holistic care.

The 23rd McGill International Palliative Care Congress (MIPCC) was held at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal from October 18 to 21, 2022, after a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic. This international gathering of health care practitioners and palliative care specialists — McGill’s largest congress — has been hosted in Montreal every second year since 1976 and is the longestrunning congress of its kind. We are extremely proud of this tradition, which has contributed to the growth of this interdisciplinary field that strives to enhance care for those confronted with serious and lifelimiting illness.

The 2022 MIPCC attracted approximately 800 participants from 38 countries as well as a further 150 participants online. Co-chaired by Dr. Justin Sanders and Dr. Bernard Lapointe and supported by a multidisciplinary Scientific Planning Committee, the Congress offered a unique, bilingual experience covering a broad range of areas — research, pharmacotherapy, psychosocial issues, policy, education, nursing, pediatrics, community development and the arts and humanities. As always, the Congress provided a welcoming, inclusive environment, in which the clinical sciences are intertwined with the humanities, the arts and compassion.

Another highlight was the Palliative Care McGill (PCM) Retreat held April 21, 2023. Sixty of our clinicians attended from all our sites, including Gatineau. Chaired by Dr. Justin Sanders, this highly participatory day included strategic planning exercises, the review and reworking of PCM’s vision/mission statements and brainstorming four key areas of a PCM action plan: Clinical Care, Education, Research and Advocacy. Post-retreat, multidisciplinary working groups have been formed to review member feedback and create a working plan for September 2023.

The enhanced skills palliative medicine education program was accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). We work on a continuous basis to update and maintain accreditation. The last external accreditation review was 2022 and we are in good standing.

McGill University’s International Congress on Palliative Care is the longest running congress for this field. Founded in 1976 by Dr. Balfour Mount and his colleagues, it is now organized and hosted biennially by Palliative Care McGill. Over 1,500 delegates, from more than 65 countries participate in making this one of the most interdisciplinary palliative care congresses. Every other year physicians, researchers, nurses, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists, music therapists, art therapists, physical therapists, spiritual care workers, volunteers and many others gather from around the globe to learn from and with each other for the betterment of palliative care.