The Jeelani Drabu Palliative Care Programme, kindly funded by a donation from the Drabu family, is intended to support the development of palliative medicine as a speciality and palliative care as an integral element of healthcare provision in Pakistan and the Jammu and Kashmir region.
Following the successful delivery of a one-week residential course in Lahore in 2019, we will be delivering a one-week residential course in Karachi in 2025.
In the same year we will be opening access to an online training course for healthcare professionals who are working in the Jammu and Kashmir region, with the option of certification. The course content is evidence-based and peer-reviewed.
Summary of activities:
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1-week residential course in Karachi – Limited to 30 spaces, available to doctors and nurses working in Pakistan. Recruitment open from 23 June - 24 August 2025. See below to get involved.
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3-month online certification course for Jammu and Kashmir – For healthcare workers based in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Enrolment opening soon. See below to get involved.
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1-week residential course in Lahore – Delivered in 2019 to 34 participants (22 doctors and 12 nurses). See below to learn more.
1-week residential course: Karachi
We welcome applications from doctors and nurses working in Pakistan who are interested in developing their expertise in palliative care. The course will take place from 24 – 28 November 2025. Interested candidates should review the candidate criteria below:
Key candidate criteria
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The course is residential; participants’ accommodation and meals will be provided for during the week of the course. Participants based outside of Karachi can apply for a travel bursary (max £150pp / approx. 56,000 Rs) to support their participation. Interested candidates should note that the course will include interactive sessions that are delivered in a mixed gender format.
Participants will be required to submit a report after 6 months of course completion.
How to apply
We opened the application window on 23 June 2025. To be considered for shortlisting, applicants must submit the following documents:
- Application form - complete either the online form below or one of the PDF forms:
- A letter of support from your line manager endorsing your participation in the course. You can download the template here.
Please email all required documents to Global@rcp.ac.uk by 24 August 2025.
Online application form3-month online course: Jammu and Kashmir
We welcome applications from healthcare professionals working in Jammu and Kashmir (doctors, nurses, and NGO workers) who are interested in developing their expertise in the practice of palliative care through an online modular course that can be undertaken according to their availability to participate. Participants will be able to work through the 15 modules at any time within a 3-month timeframe.
Each module concludes with a test of the learner's knowledge. At the end of all 15 modules, participants will have the opportunity to sit an exam and, if they pass, will receive an RCP certificate to demonstrate their achievement.
Course objectives include:
- Understand and apply the principles of palliative care in chronic and life-limiting illnesses
- Identify the palliative care needs of patients and their families with cancer and non-cancer conditions
- Identify palliative care needs in paediatric and geriatric populations
- Assess and manage pain and other physical symptoms
- Identify and manage issues that need specialised nursing interventions
- Assess and manage psychological, emotional and social issues in patients with chronic and life-limiting illnesses
- Communicate effectively and handle difficult conversations
- Discuss goals of care and facilitate advanced care planning
- Identify the needs of the dying person and support patients and their loved ones in the last hours of life
- Identify and address the ethical and legal challenges in the limitation of life-sustaining treatment and end of life care.
Please check back here for information about when the application window for this course will open, we anticipate this being in the autumn of 2025.
1-week residential course: Lahore
This course was delivered in 2019. 34 participants (22 doctors and 12 nurses) received training, which expanded their understanding of palliative care. In addition, it provided them with many useful skills to interact with patients and their families thus assisting in improving patient care and patient outcomes.
As a part of ensuring sustainability, the participants also received training on how to become effective educators, to support them to pass on the course learnings to others. Read the full report in the November 2021 issue of RCP Commentary magazine.
