End-of-life care Team

OUR FOUNDER

The trainings at GRAND TRANSITIONS INSTITUTE are directed by DOMO GESHE RINPOCHE, a Western reincarnate lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and based on a Buddhist approach to compassionate care at end-of-life. Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the White Conch Dharma Center and regularly provides community workshops to health care providers as part of her “Healing the Healer Series.” She has a depth of knowledge regarding the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and views surrounding death, and the dying process, and is uniquely qualified to explain to westerners how to provide careful energetic support for persons at the end of life.  

GRAND TRANSITIONS TEAM

SHARON LEFTWICH, RN, BSN: has over two decades of experience in both at-home and inpatient hospice as a care provider, trainer and manager. Most recently she built a hospice from the ground up, which she managed in her beloved New Mexico. As a certified aromatherapist and practitioner/teacher of Reiki, she integrates both conventional and complementary approaches into her practice, and offers training in these integrative skills at numerous hospice conferences and organizations. She has personally developed blends of essential oils to help manage symptoms in the dying patient and their family members. Ms Leftwich has been a practicing Buddhist for more than a decade.

BETTY KRAMER, PH.D., MSW: is a nationally recognized palliative care researcher, scholar and educator. Her research is centered on improving care at the end of life. She is coauthor of the first evidence-based textbook to profile grief and bereavement interventions for human service professionals entitled Living through Loss: Interventions across the Life-Span (2006). The recipient of three national awards, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Distinguished Researcher Award, the John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar Award, and the Project on Death in America Social Work Leadership Development Award, Dr. Kramer has received support to implement several projects relevant to improving care at the end-of-life. Dr. Kramer offers her expertise as a consultant to the White Conch Buddhist Hospice, helping to deliver the best support possible to hospice residents and their families and facilitates the Hospice Training Program in the Midwest.

GRAND TRANSITIONS GERMANY

PALDEN SITARA ENDERS: Ms Enders has been caring for others at end of life since 1995. She trained and worked as a caregiver and bereavement volunteer with VNA & Home Hospice in Santa Rosa, CA and then completed a similar training in the UK, where she worked as a volunteer for St. Christopher's Hospice, London for many years. She is currently taking part in further caregiving training with a local German hospice group. Her many years as a Buddhist practitioner offered deep insight into the dying process. She has also served as German translator for Domo Geshe Rinpoche, and has been instrumental in translating the Hospice Training DVDs into German. She will be facilitating the Hospice Training Program in Germany.

SUPPORTING STAFF

NGAWANG TENZING, Karen Kunkler, ND:  A graduate of the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon 1989. After completing a two year residency in homeopathic family practice, she began a private practice in Madison, WI in 1992.  She has received specialized training in homeopathic palliative care and holds a deep interest in serving those who seek a conscious end-of-life process. 

CAPRI FILLMORE, MD: a practicing Buddhist for many years, Dr.  Fillmore has traveled extensively in her role as physician, providing medical care for under-served populations all over the world.  Dr.  Fillmore serves as a consultant to Grand Transitions Hospice.