X-rays don鈥檛 lie. Kangoo has a broken arm. But Kangoo is lucky, because he can now go to the Teddy Bear Hospital where all teddy bears are treated for free鈥攏o health insurance required!聽聽
鈥淚 discovered the Teddy Bear Hospital concept through a friend studying medicine at Universit茅 Laval. She had attended the first event of its kind in Quebec in 2019,鈥� says Alejandra Martinez, co-president of the Teddy Bear Hospital Club led by 不良研究所 medical students.聽
The Teddy Bear Hospital project is the brainchild of the International Federation of Medical Students鈥� Associations (IFMSA). The moment she was admitted to the School of Medicine in 2019, Martinez knew she wanted to participate in this initiative by starting a club in Montreal.聽聽聽
聽鈥淭he goal is to get children to overcome their fear of hospitals and anxiety about illness,鈥� says Bertrand Leduc, the initiative鈥檚 co-president, who wanted to get this project started at 不良研究所. He is also finishing his third year in the MDCM program and plans on specializing in pediatrics. 聽
At press time, the 不良研究所 Student Teddy Bear Hospital is preparing to officially open its doors at 脡cole Saint-Gabriel in Montreal鈥檚 Pointe-St-Charles neighbourhood on June 3, when it will welcome some 100 stuffed animals and their 鈥減arents,鈥� aged 4 to 7.聽聽
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to miss it,鈥� says Dr.鈥疢yl猫ne Dandavino (BSc鈥�99, MSc鈥�02, MDCM鈥�99, PGME鈥�04), a general pediatrician at the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital and associate professor at 不良研究所 who acts as the supervisor for the group. 鈥淭his is the sort of project that reminds us why we went into medicine in the first place.鈥澛�
Because of the pandemic, this first Teddy Bear Hospital event, originally scheduled to take place in 2020, is happening two years later. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a bad thing, it gave us more time to really prepare,鈥� says Dr.鈥疞iAnna Carusone (MDCM鈥�22), the club鈥檚 executive vice president, who is starting her specialty in pediatrics.聽
Telling a story
The students worked for more than three years developing a concept that would be both entertaining and educational. The result was inspired by their experience working with the IFMSA. They also added some of their own ideas, along with a good dose of fantasy.聽聽
When children arrive at the Saint-Gabriel school gymnasium, which has been converted into a 鈥渉ospital,鈥� they are given a map of eight stations to visit (Triage, Medical Imaging, Surgery, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Healthy Living, and a Rest Area). They can mark each station with a sticker after they visit it. On the front of the document, they can fill in their teddy bear鈥檚 medical information鈥攁t Triage, children listen to heart beats, check vital signs, weigh their 鈥減atients鈥� and examine their ears. 鈥淭his is the most familiar step, the one that almost all children will have experienced,鈥� says LiAnna Carusone.聽聽
After Triage, the children move on to Medical Imaging. Here, Teddy gets an X-ray to see what鈥檚 wrong鈥攊t鈥檚 usually a broken arm, which obviously needs to be fixed. At Surgery, kids get to operate on a large teddy bear with a zipper, and then using Velcro, stick the bear鈥檚 cloth organs onto a poster that identifies them.聽
At the Pharmacy, children have to choose different ingredients to mix Teddy鈥檚 鈥渕edicine.鈥� 鈥淢any stations have one or more messages,鈥� explains Alejandra Martinez. In the pharmacy it鈥檚, 鈥淒on鈥檛 take medicine that鈥檚 not for you.鈥� In physical and occupational therapy, where they learn about neurodiversity and see different devices, such as orthotics, the message is, 鈥淎nyone can be your friend even if they are having trouble walking.鈥澛犅�
The Healthy Living station is an opportunity to teach kids safety and nutrition lessons, such as put on a life jacket when you are on water, wear a helmet on your bike, and apply sunscreen when you鈥檙e in the sun. 鈥淭he way to get this across is to say, 鈥榃hen Teddy is in this situation, what do you do?鈥欌�� explains Leduc.聽聽
The little ones then go to the Rest station where they watch videos about health. All medical faculties in Quebec have their own Teddy Bear Hospital project and are collaborating to produce audiovisual material. The 不良研究所 students鈥� video deals specifically with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.聽
It took a lot of video conferences and emails鈥攁ll carried out in the middle of a pandemic鈥攖o put the concept together, prepare the script, get Faculty approval and collect sponsorships (furniture from IKEA) and medical supplies (mostly surgical gloves and hats).聽聽
The students also had to make 鈥渋nstruments鈥� and create the set for the hospital. This included building a 鈥渇un鈥� X-ray machine, drawing and laminating X-ray images, finding pharmacy bottles and filling them with multicoloured glitter and powders, making organs out of fabric for the teddy bear in surgery, building a welcome arch with balloons, and making an entrance sign.聽聽
鈥淭hat part of the project was really fun,鈥� says Martinez, who adds that it felt a bit like she was returning to childhood. 鈥淕etting together to make the elements of each station got us all doing arts and crafts again.鈥澛犅�
Out of a concern for pedagogy, the students went to great lengths to make sure that the concepts they were explaining would be easy to understand. 鈥淚n addition to checking our script, Dr. Dandavino, suggested some changes in terminology so that we could avoid using complicated concepts like 鈥榖acteria鈥� or 鈥榓ppendicitis,鈥欌�� explains Martinez.聽
A promising project聽
At 脡cole Saint-Gabriel, there will be 25 volunteers, but the organizing committee is not going to great lengths to publicize their first event.聽聽
鈥淲e want to give ourselves some time to master the concept,鈥� explains Leduc, who with Martinez will be part of a travelling team that will sort out glitches. 鈥淲e are looking at several school projects for next year. This summer, the Teddy Bear Hospital will open at a day camp in Montreal North,鈥� says Martinez, who is already dreaming of more activities for the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital and possibly in clinics as well.聽聽
Although the club was founded by medical students, many of the participants in the Teddy Bear Hospital hail from other related disciplines such as nutrition, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Nursing students will be at the triage station, where they will vaccinate the stuffed animals. 鈥淲e wanted to really represent the variety of activities in a hospital and make it a collaborative project,鈥� says Carusone.聽
Impressed by the students鈥� level of organization, Dandavino is now considering how to integrate an original research project into the initiative. 鈥淭he students have put together a preparation package that allows children to indicate their level of anxiety before the exercise. It remains to be seen, but there might be something to do with this. It would be great if the students could use the project to add further research experience to their academic record.鈥澛�
Pictured: Lianna Carusone, Bertrand Leduc and Alejandra Martinez