Advanced European Bioethics course “Suffering, Death and Palliative Care”, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 11 – 14 February, 2014

The section of Healthcare Ethics, department IQ healthcare, (Radboudumc university medical centre) organizes the 16^th edition of the advanced European Bioethics Course ‘Suffering, Death and Palliative Care’ from February 11 – 14, 2014.

Participants will learn about a variety of topics in the domain of palliative care: autonomy and dependence; scientific research in palliative care; palliative sedation and euthanasia; death, suffering and palliative care; quality of life and a good death; spirituality and palliative care. There will be time for intensive discussions.

Members of the staff are, among others, Kris Vissers, professor of palliative care in Nijmegen; Evert van Leeuwen, professor of medical ethics in Nijmegen; Dick Willems, professor of medical ethics in Amsterdam; Gerrit Kimsma, general practitioner and philosopher in Amsterdam, Gert Olthuis, professor ethics of care in Nijmegen and Thomas Quartier, professor of Thanatology in Nijmegen.

This course is designed for participants from diverse professional backgrounds, such as nursing, medicine, health care administration, ethics, philosophy, theology and pastoral care, and PhD students undertaking courses of study in these areas.

The key-note lecture will be held by Carlo Leget, vice-president of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), full professor of ethics of care and spiritual counseling; endowed professor in ethical and spiritual issues in palliative care, established by the Association of High Care Hospices in the Netherlands.

In the past years Carlo Legets main focus has been ethics and spirituality in palliative care. His specializations include palliative care, the ethics of end-of-life questions, the art of living and dying, and spirituality in palliative care. In the coming years he will focus on topics such as hope, attention, vulnerability and dignity from a care ethics perspective.

Objective of the course is to educate the participants on two main aspects: ethical questions of palliative care and medically assisted death, and philosophical, theological and medical reflections on the concepts of death and suffering. Attitudes towards death and dying, and the ethical aspects of continuing or foregoing medical treatment, and of medically assisted death receive considerable attention. In addition, the dimensions of spirituality, rituals and intercultural diversity are covered.

The intensive course Suffering, Death and Palliative care is part of the post-initial Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics program organized by a consortium of three European universities: the KU Leuven (Belgium), Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (The Netherlands) and the Università degli Studi di Padova (Italy). Due to this collaboration, participants of the advanced course Suffering, Death and Palliative Care, will join Master students from all over the world.

Location: Radboud university medical centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Language: English. Price: Euro (€) 690 for registration before December 15th, 2013, Euro (€) 790 for registration after this date.

For more information or registration, please follow the links or consult our website: www.masterbioethics.org, under Intensive courses. Contact: Simone Naber: simone.naber@radboudumc.nl. Tel: +31 (0) 24 – 3613359/ +31 (0) 24 – 3615320. For updates and the latest news follow us on twitter: @palcarecourse.

Direct link: https://med.kuleuven.be/eng/erasmus-mundus-bioethics/documents/sufferingdeath