Teddy clinic Consultation hour for cuddly toys

Bonn · Sometimes children are scared of doctors and examinations - but not after a day in the teddy clinic.

Sometimes children are scared of doctors and examinations - but not after a day in the teddy clinic. There are turtles with shell pain, bears whose noses need reconstruction and dolls with back and tummy aches. Even complicated cases like tail fractures and gaping fur wounds can still be treated successfully until Friday in the children’s hospital at the Adenauerallee. More than 100 medical and pharmaceutical students agreed to do „teddy duty“. Together with the Bonner Grüne Damen of the Protestant Group for the Sick and the Elderly they are supporting the event, organized by the health insurance company AOK and the support group for children with cancer, already in its 14th year.

„Again the demand by the kindergartens to visit the teddy clinic was much higher than we theoretically could handle“, said Ingrid Beckmann-Singerhoff, AOK Rheinland. Like in a well-organized doctor’s practice, 60 kindergartens from Bonn got half-an-hour-appointments. That way the 1,200 boys and girls were well spread out, so the future doctors had enough time to look after the worried cuddly toy owners - all between three and six years old. The idea behind the event: To take away the fear of doctors and to get the children used to the process of an examination.

It is much easier for „draon mama“ Sophia (5) to watch her cuddly toy named „Ohne Zahn“ being treated than being examined herself. Playfully she passes all the stops like in a normal hospital: From the check-in forms asking for possible allergies to the prescription of „medicine“ in the shape of gummibears from the teddy pharmacy.

The children gain insight into the routine of a medical practice and learn about x-rays and ultrasound examination without being affected themselves. The young cuddly toy owners benefit long term from this, says Beckmann-Singerhoff. „Once the children have to go to a hospital themselves they are more relaxed as they have seen the whole process before when their toy was sick.“

The medical students also benefit from the teddy clinic. „Especially young patients can be difficult to handle sometimes. During the teddy clinic, the future doctors from the Bonn university get the chance to practice the handling of young patients. That way they can prepare for any eventuality,“ says Johannes Breuer, head of the children’s cardiology at the University Hospital, Bonn.

This Friday, from 1am to 4pm, the teddy clinic is open for all children with „sick or injured“ cuddly toys, no registration needed. For more info, please see: www.teddykrankenhaus.uni-bonn.de

Original text: Stefan Hermes
Translation: Mareike Graepel

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