Pune, 18 October 2022 : Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) is an evidence-based, inter professional, and multidisciplinary training program that equips the entire maternity care team with skills to effectively manage obstetric emergencies. This comprehensive course encourages a standardized team-based approach amongst physicians, residents, nurse midwives, registered nurses, and other members of the maternity care team to improve patient safety and positively impact maternal outcomes. DY Patil Medical college Hospital and research centre has launched the First Advanced & Basic Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO &BLSO) Course in Collaboration with American Academy of Family Physicians.

Addressing this concern D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune and its constituent Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune collaborated with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP),which is a national association of family doctors. It is one of the largest national medical organizations, with 127,600 members in 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, with its headquarters at Leawood, Johnson County, Kansas United States, to conduct the Advanced & Basic Life Support in Obstetrics Course.The Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) and Basic Life Support in Obstetrics Course is an evidence-based, inter professional, and multidisciplinary training program that equips the entire maternity care team with skills to effectively manage obstetric emergencies. This comprehensive course encourages a standardized team-based approach amongst physicians, residents, nurse midwives, registered nurses, and other members of the maternity care team to improve patient safety and positively impact maternal outcomes. Its main focus is on patient safety, teamwork, communication skills and conducting scenarios in emergent obstetric conditions on simulators. Simulation based training reduces human error and practice boosts the clinician’s confidence thus helping to enhance competence in managing emergent obstetric conditions.

Vice Chancellor in his address gave an overview of D.Y.Patil Vidyapeeth calling it a young dynamic university with NAAC A++ accreditation and stressed the need of simulation based training, its reflection on improving competencies in medical management & congratulated the DPU team and Course Director DPU(ALSO & BLSO ) Dr. Meenal Patvekar, for collaborating with American Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Sajjini Thomas – Advisory Board Member of AAFP who was addressing online from Chicago congratulated Hon. Chancellor Dr.P.D.Patil for collaborating with AAFP in a record time of 6 months and appreciated about the skill lab infrastructure and the course conduct over the last 3 days. This training will satisfy requirements for obstetric certification as outlined and facilitated by the DY Patil Vidyapeeth of Continuing Medical Education.As emergent obstetrical scenarios do not occur on a daily basis, simulation is a viable option for practicing real-life scenarios and maintaining skills. It seeks not only to provide more education in emergency scenarios but also to foster communication among team members.

Dr. Meenal Patvekar Professor in Obstetrics & Gynaecology & Course Director DPU (ALSO & BLSO ) gave an overview of the program, & the importance of the course is improving teamwork skills, standardized approach, effective communication, simulator training; is a way to reduce human error and increase competencies. She thanked Hon. Chancellor Dr.P.D.Patil for his unprecedented support to help collaborate within six months with AAFP. A total of 30 participants, including obstetricians, post-graduates, interns, doctors from different disciplines of medicine, nurses, and midwives were trained in the advanced & basic life support course. Participants were trained on five skill stations of obstetric emergencies with high and low-fidelity simulators using mnemonics and were made to perform all maneuvers with repetition. The course shall be conducted every quarterly in our institute.

The course is a blended course which is conducted 4 times in a year and 20 seats will be for participants for each basic and advanced course. It will be a 3 days course and will be split in a new blended format where the participant is given the content and curriculum online after which a post test is done online and the participant comes for a skill training program to DPU skill lab for one day for advance and basic.
Hon. Chancellor Dr.P.D.Patil in his Presidential address, said that, skill-based learning with simulation has become more relevant in modern times and also a part of the new curriculum in medicine. He also commented that it is indeed a moment of pride for us at DPU to collaborate with AAFP in commencing the advanced and basic life support course at our institute at our very own modern skills lab which is having all the low and high-fidelity simulators installed for different faculties of medicine and is of great benefit to our students as well as teachers. This type of training will have a positive impact on the aptitudes of course participants, and consequently on patients and organizations. We at DPU will strive for reaching the United Nations goal of reducing maternal mortality by conducting the advanced and basic life support in obstetrics courses thereby strengthening our emergency care services in our hospital.