Jan Getek, a 6th-year medical student at the Medical University of Gdańsk, took part in the international summer school Empowering Ethics and Leadership Education in Palliative Care Programme, held on 8th–12th June 2026 at the Universidad de Navarra campus in Pamplona, Spain.
The programme focused on issues related to leadership and management in palliative care. Participants gained knowledge of team organisation, quality assurance in care, and the challenges faced by contemporary healthcare systems. Ethical issues, which form an integral part of everyday clinical practice, were also an important element of the classes.
The summer school brought together students, physicians, nurses and researchers from many European countries, including Italy, Spain, Turkey, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Albania and Kosovo. Participants worked in international teams on case study analyses and discussed challenges related to the organisation and provision of palliative care across different healthcare systems. Jan Getek represented Poland as one of two participants in the event.
An important element of the programme was the opportunity to work with recognised experts in palliative care, including Prof. Carlos Centeno, Prof. Frank Elsner and Simone Veronese, M.D., Ph.D. whose work contributes to shaping the development of this field in Europe.
The summer school was organised as part of COST Action CA22127 – COllaboratively DEveloped culturallY Appropriate and inclusive Assessment tool for Palliative Care EDUcation (CODE-YAA@PC-EDU). The Department of Palliative Medicine of the Medical University of Gdańsk has been involved in the implementation of the project for the past three years.
A detailed report from the event is available on the CODE-YAA@PC-EDU project website: https://codeyaa.eu/.
