CSUSM to Host Palliative Care Professional Conference

The sixth annual CSUSM Palliative Care Professional Conference will take place on Dec. 1. Pictured is a scene from the event last year.

Cal State San Marcos will welcome up to 100 palliative care professionals, educators and students next month when it holds the sixth annual CSUSM Palliative Care Professional Conference.

The day-long event on Dec. 1 will be hosted by the campus arm of the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care, which has been housed at CSUSM for 10 years.

The theme of the conference is “Charting the Course: Supporting Patients and Families Through Serious Illness and Beyond.” It will be co-hosted by the San Diego Coalition for Compassionate Care, a grass-roots organization that collaborates with other local and statewide stakeholders in advance care planning and palliative care.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Dr. Holly Yang, a specialist in hospice and palliative medicine at Scripps Health. Yang is president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the leading professional society for HPM physicians.

The program also will include a screening of the 2022 documentary “Jack Has a Plan,” about a man with a terminal brain tumor who chooses to end his life and the struggle of his family and friends to accept his decision. Afterward, director Bradley Berman will talk to the audience.

CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt will open the conference with welcome remarks.

Prospective attendees can register for the event here.