North Public School kids get to experience Teddy Bear Hospital
DESPITE doctors presenting their offices as fun or child friendly, children are conformed to the stigma that doctors are scary.
In a bid to ease the process of visiting paediatricians and doctors, the School of Rural Health’s third and fourth year medical students held their annual Teddy Bear Hospital at Dubbo North Public School, where the student medicos integrated health promotional activities including, exercising, bandaging teddy bears, healthy eating, stethoscope usage for heart and ear checks, oral health, and hand washing training.
Assistant principal and kindergarten teacher, Rebecca Letfallah, said the children were learning healthy habits and simple strategies on how to look after themselves.
By learning through interactive activities, Mrs Letfallah shared how the youngsters are learning that visiting doctors and attending health check ups can be fun and comfortable.
“Sessions like this are a great way to demonstrate that going to the doctors doesn’t have to be a scary experience,” she said, adding that she believes the children will have more success at attending health care appointments after the interactive sessions.
Fourth year medical student, Josh Merritt, attended the session last year and said he noticed a decrease in nervousness of children visiting health care clinics.
“The main purpose of the exercises is to reduce the scare factor for the kids and to let them know that doctors are approachable,” he continued, saying that the students are enthusiastic to learn techniques to educate themselves on health practices.
He told Dubbo Photo News the children are “fantastic” at collaborating and showcasing their health knowledge.
“It is also a great opportunity for the medical students to integrate with the community and hopefully contribute to the health of the children in the future.”