Educational System for Transplant Coordinators in Poland: Postgraduate Studies at Warsaw Medical University; 2 Years of Experience

Donor hospital transplant coordinators play crucial roles in the donation process. There are only a few coordinators in Poland, while there are about 400 hospitals with intensive care units (ICU). Coordinators must be professionals in medical sciences, clinical psychology, law, organization, management, and statistics. Coordinators acquire these skills during the Transplant Coordinators Postgraduate Studies at Warsaw Medical University which began in 2007. Lectures, seminars and exercises (99 hours, 6 weekends) are run by experts. The studies end with an examination and a diploma. The main criterion for acceptance of a candidate is employment in a key department in the donation process. The aim of studies is to educate coordinators for each hospital in the country. Until now 4 editions of the course have been completed. Among 123 graduates, 71 (60%) are employed in strategic departments of 48 hospitals. Preliminary results of graduates' activities in donor detection were compared in the periods before (2005–2006) and after the course (2007–2008). The background was the overall activity in Poland, where in 2007–2008 the activity fell to 79% of 2005–2006. This fall for hospitals with the graduates of this program was 82% versus hospitals without them (76%). Of the 48 hospitals that employed the graduates: 14 improved donation 5 were the same, in 12 in both periods showed no donations; whereas in 11 it was much lower (>20%), and in 6 lower but consistent with the national trend.