The 1st State Level Workshop on "Organ Donation" for nurses was organized by the MMM College of Nursing ( a unit of The Madras Medical Mission) in Collaboration with MOHAN Foundation (MF) on 23rd June 2012 in Chennai. The response was overwhelming with 750 students from 22 nursing colleges in Tamil Nadu participating in the workshop. Dr.A.Judie, Principal, Prof.R.Padmavathi Kamaraj, Vice Principal, MMM College of Nursing, and their team worked tirelessly to put the workshop together. MOHAN Foundation was the knowledge partner. 

The Workshop began with an introduction to the Concepts of Organ donation by Dr.Saravana, Director - ILKOT, MMM. Next was a talk on Brain Death by Dr.J.Amalorpavanathan, Convenor, Cadaver Transplant programme, Tamil Nadu. Dr.Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MF, spoke on the ethics of organ Donation & Transplantation. The Transplantation of Human Oragans Act was covered by Mrs.Sujatha Niranjan, MIS Manager, MF. This was followed by a talk on the Role of NGO's in Organ Donation & Transplantation Dr.Sumana Navin, Course Director, MF. Ms.Jessi Saranya, Transplant Coordinator, MF, Spke about the Role of Nurses as Transplant Coordinators. The other sessions included- Renal transplants by Dr.Georgi Abraham, Consultant Nephrologist, MMM, Heart transplant, Lung transplant & homografts by Dr.Anbarsu, Consultant Cardiothoracic surgeon, MMM, Corneal Transplant by Dr.R.R.Sudhir, Consultant, Preventive Ophthamology, Sankara Nethralaya, and Lver, Pancreas and small bowel transplant by Dr.George Kurian, Head of Gastroenterology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences.

The Valedictory funtion was a thought - provoking affair. The Chief Guest, was Dr.S.Ashokan, father of deceased organ donor Master.Hithendran. Dr.Ashokan spoke eloquently about the need for nurses to be gentle and kind to patients and their families since they are the ones who constantly interact with the patients/families. The workshop ended with many of the students pledging to carry the message of organ donation into the community.