Education
Cicely Saunders® Americas is working in collaboration with Cicely Saunders® International to build capacity in palliative care through a program of scholarships, fellowships, and online educational initiatives.
Why It Matters
Palliative care education equips healthcare professionals, patients, families, and communities with the knowledge and skills needed to improve quality of life for people living with serious illness. As populations age and chronic, complex conditions become more common, the need for high-quality palliative care across all care settings continues to grow.
Many people with serious illness experience poorly controlled symptoms, emotional distress, and care that is not aligned with their values or goals. Education is essential to reduce avoidable suffering and ensure care is compassionate, coordinated, and person‑centred.
As populations age and the prevalence of chronic and complex conditions increases, palliative care is no longer confined to specialist settings but is required across hospitals, community services, and long-term care facilities. This reality demands a workforce that is well prepared, confident, and appropriately trained.
Basic palliative care principles—such as pain and symptom management, communication about goals of care, psychosocial support, and ethical decision-making—should be embedded within undergraduate and general professional training. However, the complexity of palliative care often extends beyond foundational knowledge. Patients frequently present with refractory symptoms, multimorbidity, cultural and spiritual needs, and significant family distress. Managing these challenges safely and effectively requires specialist training that builds advanced clinical skills and professional judgement.
Specialist education equips healthcare professionals to deliver holistic, person-centred care while working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams. For doctors, this includes advanced symptom control, prognostication, and leadership in complex clinical decision-making. For nurses, specialist training strengthens assessment skills, care coordination, and sustained patient and family support. Allied healthcare professionals—including social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and psychologists—play critical roles in addressing functional, emotional, social, and practical needs, and require tailored education to integrate their expertise effectively within palliative care.
Without adequate specialist training, healthcare professionals may feel ill-prepared to manage end-of-life care, leading to suboptimal symptom control, poor communication, and increased distress for patients and families. Investment in structured postgraduate education, mentorship, and ongoing professional development is therefore vital. Strengthening specialist palliative care training not only improves patient outcomes and quality of life, but also supports clinicians, enhances interdisciplinary collaboration, and promotes a more compassionate and sustainable healthcare system.
BuildPall
BuildPall is a 5-year program hosted at the Cicely Saunders® Institute that identifies and develops future academic and clinical leaders in the field of palliative care and engages them in research and evaluation in palliative care challenges. This builds capacity and facilitates the discovery and evaluation of treatments, therapies, and services to improve palliative care in the future. It uses the latest technologies to disseminate expertise and research across the globe and pioneers strategies to engage communities. The program includes training, peer group support and networking opportunities.
E-Learning initiatives at the Cicely Saunders ® Institute include Self-Breathe, Better-B, E-Breathe, and the POS virtual learning platform. Online events, Michal Galazka Study Days and workshops are broadcast on the Institute’s YouTube channel.