The core FDC workshop is a two day workshop which provides training to a range of health professionals working in organ and tissue donation. The workshops aim to provide increased knowledge, understanding and skills in having conversations about death and donation, and ensuring that families are provided with sufficient information to make an informed and enduring donation decision.

The core FDC workshop aims to provide participants with an understanding of:

• Specific elements of family care and communication
• The range of reactions experienced by families who receive catastrophic news
• The key factors in the process, timing and sequence of the donation conversation
• Best practices for supporting families in grief and in the donation conversation
• Strategies to ensure informed and enduring decision making about donation

Intensive care medical trainees are required by the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) to complete the core FDC workshop as part of their mandatory training requirements. Trainees are required to complete the CICM elearning program entitled 'Brain Death and Organ Donation' before attending the core FDC workshop. There is also an expectation that all intensive care medical trainees have read and understood 'The ANZICS Statement on Death and Organ Donation' Edition 4 2019, prior to attending the core FDC workshop. This statement is available here.

Core FDC workshops are facilitated by a national group of specialist trainers, including experienced donation specialists, intensive care specialists and grief counsellors from across the DonateLife Network and Australia. The workshop is regularly reviewed in consultation with the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand and the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses to ensure the material maintains currency and continues to meet the training needs of the sector.

If you are interested in attending a workshop, please contact the DonateLife Agency in the host state or territory for details about the workshop. If you are a DonateLife Network staff member, consider contacting the Education Coordinator in your jurisdiction to discuss potential support to attend a workshop in another jurisdiction.

You can view the workshop schedule here