UMK - Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu (Poland)

Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika in Torun (UMK) was founded in 1945. It is one of the largest universities in Poland, currently comprising 17 faculties (including 3 medical faculties at Collegium Medicum UMK in Bydgoszcz). It provides graduate and postgraduate courses for almost 25 000 students, offering education in over 100 fields of study and 65 postgraduate courses. The Department of Palliative Care at UMK is located within the University Hospital in Bydgoszcz and is connected to the Palliative Care Unit and the out-patient Clinic of Palliative Care.

The research and educational group consists of 7 full-time and 1 half-time academic positions and administrative staff.  The team has had a long-lasting experience in teaching palliative medicine on different levels and organizing national and international conferences along with the involvement in several studies in many areas within palliative care research from molecular biology to qualitative studies. Important part of this research activity is dedicated to breathlessness in patients with advanced disease and involve such trials as on nebulised opioids in cancer and COPD patients, visualization of opioidergic system in lungs, methods of evaluation of cough, Dignity Therapy in COPD patients, communication on end-of-life issues in COPD and lung cancer.

People:

Dr. med. Malgorzata Krajnik: Head of the Department of Palliative Care