A Sociologist by training, Prof. Kazanjian was founding Director of the British Columbia Office of Health Technology Assessment at UBC (1991-2002), and served as Director of the Health Human Resources Unit at UBC from 1988 to 2002. She was also Associate Director, UBC Centre for Health Services & Policy Research, 1988-2002. Dr. Kazanjian is currently the co-lead of the Canadian Cancer Survivorship Research Consortium (CCSRC) and Co-Director of the Survivorship Research Centre at BCCA.
What have you found valuable about attending the International Congress?
The Congress is a good venue to bring together many disciplinary researchers from around the world. It is interesting to see the breadth and depth of grouping and hear an international perspective. International participation has really increased over the past few years and it is really great to see all the countries so involved.
What are you looking forward to?
The plenaries are always a treat, then I try to find an area that is not necessarily my area of expertise so that I can learn about new topics outside of my field. The program is quite varied, so it is a real treat for me!
What lessons learned do you think you will take back?
There is always something to learn, the most important aspect for me as a researcher is seeing that palliative care is at the forefront internationally. Through the conference we see policy, however there is still no standardized approach to palliative care internationally and even nationally in some cases. Training and education is really important to me as a professor and researcher, and through the sessions I will continue to learn the best practices and educational topics that are relevant at the international level. The educational topics cut across all levels, practice is harder to standardize but as educators we can always take the topics and apply them at the national and local level.
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