Hello to all our supporters, my name is Cameron and since October I have been the Operations Director at Cairdeas. This has been a busy and exciting time and I’d like to thank all the Cairdeas team for making the transition as smooth as possible. In February, I was given the opportunity to travel to Kerala, India with Cairdeas to help run the final week of the Compassionate Leadership Fellowship (CLF). This has been a year-long program of teaching and mentorship for palliative care clinicians from India, Nepal, Kenya and Rwanda, aimed at developing their leadership skills and achieving personal learning growth. Dr Mhoira and Dr Chitra have been working so hard all year as course coordinators and it was a great privilege to be brought in to help with this last module.

After a couple of days shaking off jet lag and getting used to the Indian heat, we travelled to Thiruvalla, where the course would be taking place at Believer’s Church Medical College Hospital (BCMCH), one of our partner organisations in India. Before the module week began, I was given the chance to join the palliative care team at BCMCH as they made their morning rounds. This was an illuminating first look at healthcare in foreign context for me, and the team discussed with me the importance of spiritual support in their palliative care, as part of their care for the patient’s ‘total pain’, encompassing physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological pain. We also spent time discussing the roles of families in patient care, and the difficulties this can present when clinicians’ and families’ priorities do not align, e.g. a family not wishing a doctor to tell a patient they have cancer to protect their emotions.

On the eve of the course I started to meet the mentors and fellows who had travelled from near and far for the CLF. I had been nervous about this trip and joining a group of people I had never met before, but this quickly disappeared as I was welcomed in so warmly by all. My role during the week was partly IT, partly logistics and a good amount of problem solving, all aimed at keeping everything running smoothly to facilitate teaching and learning.

The CLF utilises a variety of teaching styles to allow all fellows to learn in their way, having spent time during Module 1 using tools such as Myers-Briggs, KELP and LPI to allow self-examination and recognition of one’s own learning style. Group tasks throughout the week highlighted the varying styles of the fellows; some were very reflective, considering problems and imagining solutions before they acted, others were highly active, launching into tasks and solving problems as they went. It was fascinating to observe the interplay between these styles in group settings and how the fellows managed their different ideas of how to approach a task. I was able to take part in some tasks and landed slightly more on the ‘think first, then act’ side of the equation. It’s a great strength of the CLF program that fellows are first forced to look at themselves and their own learning and leadership style before moving on to teaching practical skills, allowing for richer understanding of their strengths and weaknesses when approaching a task.

After a year of getting the know one another, the bonds between the fellows and mentors, and the fellows with each other, was tangible, buoyed by their knowledge of each other’s learning styles and personality types. Tasks were frequently discussed retrospectively (often over wonderful Kerala cuisine), with fellows examining who had thrived or found themselves outside their comfort zones. The transformational growth the fellows have experienced over the year was highlighted by the willingness to jump into tasks that were outside of their comfort zone. For example, Biju, a kind and reserved fellow, took on the role of a hard-lined medical director facing disgruntled employees during a role-playing negotiation exercise. The fellows continually spoke about the growth and development they saw in themselves owing to the CLF, and it was heartening to see the fruits of the hard work put in by the CLF team to plan, fund and organise this course over the past few years.

Having developed their understanding of the characteristics of leadership and understanding oneself as a leader in the previous modules, this module focused on developing practical skills to allow the fellows to put their understanding into practice and become changemakers in compassionate care. Throughout the week, mentors provided expert teaching on strategic planning, circles of influence and control, negotiation skills, presentation and public speaking skills and the use of storytelling and AI in social media marketing. Fellows were presented with tasks ranging from planning grant applications for palliative care facilities in rural Nepal to negotiating a price for stolen (and imaginary!!) iPhones. Fellows were also given the chance to review their leadership development over the past year and make poster presentations on their growth, which were displayed in the entrance lobby at BCMCH. The wide range of skills the fellows gained throughout the week will serve them well as they go back into their work lives and strive to be compassionate leaders in palliative care. Strategic planning was a particularly eye-opening session, with plans to change the world found to be constrained by budget, time and attainability. It will be exciting to see the journeys our CLF family go on in their careers, and their communities will be truly blessed to have such committed, hard-working, caring and compassionate leaders in their midst.

The week culminated in the valedictory ceremony, where the fellows each had a chance to speak and present about their personal and professional journey and growth, over the past year and their lifetimes. This was a beautiful and emotional morning of sharing between friends and colleagues; stories of hardships and disappointments, overcoming challenges and achieving dreams. Sharing personal stories was the final glue which truly connected the group on an intimate level and there were more than a few tears shed. The whole CLF family spoke of what a powerful and inspiring time they had together, and took home with them memories, friendships and leadership skills for life.

I want to truly thank Dr Mhoira and Cairdeas for inviting me to be a part of such a wonderful and memorable two weeks, and to all the fellows and mentors of the CLF for welcoming me into their family. It was a fantastic experience which will serve me well for many years to come, both through the teaching of the CLF mentors and the experiences of traveling and working in an international context. The CLF is a fantastic program with passionate, knowledgeable people behind it and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our fellows and for the communities they serve.

Special thanks go to all of our partners who helped to make the Compassionate Leadership Fellowship possible: Believers Church Medical College Hospital (BCMCH), Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust (Cairdeas IPCT), Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh (UoE), the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC), and RMD Trust.