Controverse « les soins palliatifs : en route vers la spécialité ? »

The historical origins of palliative care (PC), its foundation, then its implementation and organisation are evoked. Palliative care is not like any other medical specialty. It raises fundamental interrogations regarding the meaning of life, of death, of human relationship and care. It constitutes a body of knowledge, skills, approaches and methods. Taking advantage of its specificities and of the experience acquired during the last twenty years, PC is now able to spread as palliative approaches, with the risks of deviation inherent to this change without strong structural basis. It can open up to all the relevant professionals and to other medical fields, radically and without compromise. Then the prelude of a specialization is starting to emerge, both determined and fragile. And the creation of this medical specialty shall be achieved through academic courses and high standard multicentre research. PC maturation will require this level of acknowledgement. PC must reach the rank of a true specialty, without losing sight of its multi-professional core, and the essential part of accompaniment. It justifies in our opinion a specialisation, in order to intensify and adjust the field.