Students at St
Cuthbert’s Catholic School will get the chance to run their teddy bears through
their health check-up paces tomorrow (Friday 29 March), when they
receive a special visit from local medical students, as part of the University
of Tasmania’s Teddy Bear Hospital program.
University School of
Medicine students will act as ‘teddy doctors’ in what will be the school’s
first participation in the ever-expanding program.
Prep students will
have the chance to put their teddies through their paces at different health
care stations such as Teddy GP, Teddy surgery, Teddy handwashing, Teddy X-ray,
Teddy emergency and Teddy exercise.
The Teddy Bear
Hospital (TBH), which started at the University’s School of Medicine in 2013,
is a community project aiming to familiarise young children with hospitals and
medical treatment.
Third-year medical
student Aleksander Wejman said the program, which is expanding into more
Tasmanian schools this year, had benefits for all students involved.
“The Teddy Bear
Hospital is an extremely valuable program that has potential benefits for both
medical students and primary school students,” he said.
“The program provides
a fun and non-threatening environment for children to learn more about medical
encounters, with the aim of alleviating any associated fears, while at the same
time helping medical students to develop communication skills in the paediatric
setting.”
The Teddy Bear
Hospital concept was founded by the International Federation of Medical
Students Associations, and the University of Tasmania program is modelled on
existing programs run in Australia and overseas.
