Tata Memorial Hosp trains cancer patient navigators for Indonesia

Mumbai: A special paramedical course started by Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Parel three years back has now got an “international” tag with 25 ‘students’ from Indonesia joining it.

The TMC programme, called Kevat, is the country’s first postgraduate diploma in patient navigation in oncology. While two batches of Kevats have already got a diploma offered by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the third batch of 37 students is in progress.

The Kevats are essentially navigators who help cancer patients coming to the TMC group of hospitals to find their way to effective cancer care. “Their task include assisting patients with documentation and registration, identifying vulnerable patients, explaining diagnosis and procedures, preparing patients for procedures, among others,” said Nishu Singh Goel, Kevat programme head at TMC.