Townsville doctor one of three winners for palliative care award

Townsville Hospital intern Dr Alice Vincent is one of three interns sharing first place in the Dr Will Cairns Palliative Care essay competition.

Sharing the honour with Alice is former James Cook University graduates Dr Anjani Prasad, who has commenced her internship at Lyell McEwin Hospital in South Australia, and Dr Faizy Kakkat who has begun her internship at Blacktown Hospital, New South Wales.

Palliative care service clinical director Dr Richard Corkill co-created the competition with Dr Will Cairns to increase knowledge and awareness on palliative care for final-year medical students.

“Unfortunately, up to 50 per cent of the current workforce has had little-to-none palliative care or end-of-life undergraduate training and this essay addresses the issue right at the start, when students are about to enter their critical years as health professionals,” Richard said.

“It aims to stimulate thought, research and reading into palliative care while also highlighting the importance of reflective practice.

“There were 14 submissions, and the top three were so exceptional that the judges decided to share the award among them.

“By sharing these essays, we hope to increase understanding of this complex and wide-reaching speciality.”

Alice’s award-winning essay centres around the importance of laughter during the palliative care journey and why it’s an important emotion to recognise during end of life.

“My first experience with palliative care was when my dad was dying,” Alice said.

“It sounds odd to say, but it was a good death for me and my family because we spent a lot of family time together and managed to bring laughter into that time, which really helped everyone with what was a pretty tough experience.

“Ever since then I’ve been interested in palliative care.”

During Alice’s final year of medicine, she undertook a rotation at The Townsville Hospital’s palliative care unit which she said also helped to shape her essay.

“When I did my rotation through The Townsville Hospital palliative care unit, I found the clinicians to be really inspiring as they used humour as a tool.

“Some people may think it’s odd or controversial but they knew the exact right moment to use it and we found it very powerful.

“In the end, family members will have these memories for the rest of their lives so to know that we can potentially shape some of that memory into a positive one is inspiring.

“Palliative care is high on my list of possible career options now that I’ve seen the impact it has on families and individuals.”

The three essays can be found here: Dr Alice Vincent, Dr Anjani Prasad, Dr Faizy Kakkat.

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