Establishing contact with patients is very important for me, says would-be docto












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            * Establishing contact with patients is very important for me, says would-be doctor
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            October 4, 2011, By: P.K., Section: Topic

            Ivana Čopová divides her free time between her boyfriend and little patients at the Motol 
            Hospital. She says she learns a lot from them, she likes playing with them and admits teen
            difficult to get along with. “The children sometimes seem to know more about their illness

            be doctors do,” says the student of the Charles University 2nd Faculty of Medicine who has
            the Volunteer Centre at the Motol University Hospital for more than two years now and is p
            Africa for next year.

            You started cooperating with the Volunteer Centre three years ago when you were a 2nd-year
            What brought you to that decision?

            In the first two years of studies you only sit over books. There is little clinical practi
            curriculum and you rarely get to see any patients. It is important for doctors to manage n
            technical aspect of the therapy but also to be able to communicate with the patients. I wa

            it would be like with children. In my second year of studies I started attending the child
            department in Motol. There the children stay for only two or three days so every time ther
            new patients. Now I’m helping out at the children’s gastroenterology department and there 

            different.
            Do the patients stay longer at the gastroenterology department?
            The Motol Paediatric Clinic provides highly specialized and expert care to children from t

            Czech Republic. The same applies to the children’s gastroenterology and care for children 
            diseases. Motol brings together cases that you don’t see elsewhere – children with Crohn’s
            ulcerative colitis and autoimmune hepatitis. Those are long-term illnesses and patients of

            term hospitalization. There are around twenty children at the department and it is an adva
            to see some of the children more frequently. But still you need to establish new contact a
            two hours for that.

            But as a medical student you can assess what is wrong with the little patients…
            No one knows I am a medical student and because there are only doctors everywhere, I belie
            the children and their parents happy to see someone who is not wearing a white coat. You a

            is affected by one’s studies so I sometimes find myself trying to subconsciously determine
            By communicating regularly with the children at the department, I learn a lot from them. T
            aware of their illness and sometimes seem to know more about it than we, would-be doctors 

            very much affected by their disease yet they are full of energy, they run around and somet
            At other times during the activities they start confiding about the various tests they had
            Mainly boys are proud of what they had managed.

            Older patients are hospitalized at the children’s part as well. How do you manage to keep 
            groups busy?
            The most difficult part is to establish new contact with new patients, but sometimes it ha

            make friends with someone in just two hours. Only with adolescent patients it is a little 
            but cards usually break the ice. According to a Czech proverb, I guess I will be lucky in 
            I lose in the card games most of the time… Younger children are easier to be with, we usua

            games and we create whatever takes our fancy. Luckily, we receive material support from th
            have colouring books, plasticine, crayons, beads etc. Our products are displayed at the de
            Volunteer Centre organizes exhibitions and uses some of the products as gifts for patients

            term care department.
            Do you ever feel so exhausted that you don’t feel like visiting the children?
            When one doesn’t feel well, it is better to give it a miss, but I must admit that as a med

            I look at illnesses a little differently. Besides, the centre organizes regular meetings o
            months where we evaluate our work in the presence of a psychologist who can offer advice i
            Volunteers in Motol are divided according to whether they work with children, oncology pat

            the long-term care department.
            The Volunteer Centre is a part of the Motol University Hospital. Its objective is to offer
            volunteers who try to actively help to improve the psychological well-being of patients an

            their effective cure.

                                                                                                      
            Dobrovolnické centrum [ URL "http://www.dcmotol.cz/cs"] je součástí Fakultní nemocnice v M
            jejich efektivním uzdravení.                                                              
                                                                                                      
                                                                                                      
                                                                                            Ivana Čopo
                                                                              "Chtěla bych si udělat p