IAHPC’s First Member Loyalty prize winner and her Traveling Scholar’s report from Sheilla de Oliveira Faria

I am very grateful with IAHPC for awarding me the new Member Loyalty prize and also for your recent support of a Traveling Scholarship to attend the EAPC Congress in Lisbon during May, 2011.

I´m 29 years old and live in São Paulo, Brazil with my husband. I´m a dietitian at the São Paulo Cancer Institute (ICESP) and was recently promoted to coordinator of nutrition. I´ve been working with palliative oncology patients since January 2009 in the Palliative Care outpatient service. I am presently working on my master’s degree in palliative care (adaptation and validation of a quality of life questionnaire) at the São Paulo University (Department of Preventive Medicine).

IAHPC provided me with an IAHPC Traveling Scholarship grant to attend the 12th Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) in Lisbon, Portugal (May, 2011). It was an amazing experience where I learned a great deal about palliative care and met colleagues from many countries.

I presented two posters about our work at ICESP. In one of the sessions, I had the opportunity to discuss with Brazilian researchers the need for us to submit more scientific papers to publications written in English so that we can be "seen" in the world.

This congress broadened my experiences not only because I was able to explore new places outside Brazil, but by providing me an opportunity to interact with colleagues from around the world. It was also culturally interesting to get to know the country and a people who are collectively descendants of those who first explored and colonized Brazil hundreds of years ago.

IAHPC has contributed immensely to my personal and professional growth and has promoted the development of palliative care in Brazil by acting as an information resource for professionals and health care providers. I hereby offer my thanks for your support and the opportunities you have given to me through the scholarship and for the new prize.

Sheilla Faria
Sao Paulo, Brazil