ByadminFeedback on internship in Poland by Miroslava Wojtyuk, obstetrician-gynecologist
My name is Miroslava. I am an obstetrician-gynecologist and specialize in cervical pathology. In February, I completed a five-day internship in obstetrics and gynecology in Poland from the Euromed Foundation. In this article I want to share my experience.
In the photo I am in the hospital of the Holy Family
About myself
I am the only doctor in the family and I realized that I want to be an obstetrician-gynecologist while still in college. No one else saw myself.
At first I received education in Ternopil Medical University. Later she passed an internship in two cities: Ternopil and Rivne. Now I work in Rovno in the Thanksgiving Reproduction Center and in the antenatal clinic at Maternity Hospital No. 1, and I treat diseases related to cervical pathology. Treatment of erosion, dysplasia, by methods such as laser destruction and vaporization of the cervix by the radio wave method is all in my competence.
Why I decided to participate in the internship
My colleague advised me about the foundation and internship program, it was my first study trip. Before that, I went to Europe several times as a tourist, I was in Poland, but I hadn’t thought about the possibility of going there to study.
In the program I was interested in the opportunity to practice. Instead of a familiarization program with sightseeing tours of hospitals, Euromed offered 5 days of internship at the Warsaw clinic. For example, I could see how Polish colleagues work and perform cervical colposcopy with a biopsy, get acquainted with the methods of research and diagnostics concerning the reproductive system, later applying their experience in my hospital in Rovno.
Preparing for the trip
To participate in the internship needed a small set of documents:
- medical degree
- certificate of annual professional examination
- certificate of employment.
Financial questions
Program price – 580 euros. The price includes practice, training, consumables and translator support. Accommodation, travel and meals – paid for at their own expense.
Life
I stopped at my Warsaw friends in the Stadion area on Radovaya, which is not far from the clinic. Ate mainly at home or in the clinic. The institution does not have a canteen for doctors; Polish doctors eat in the staffroom or in their own dining rooms. Patients in the hospital breakfast and lunch brought by private companies.
I was on an internship with a colleague. Every day we worked until four o’clock, after that we had time to study, relax and get to know the city deeper. I loved the evening Warsaw, it is very beautiful.
The translator told where to go, in which museums visiting is free. The Euromed Foundation also organized excursions for us: we saw the Van Gogh exhibition, the Museum of Folk Art, the Chopin Museum.
Old town in the evening
The working process
Internship schedule
I had an internship at the Warsaw hospital to them. “Holy Family”. Every morning began in the office of the curator. The curator is a doctor, a representative of the Polish hospital, who helps program participants to undergo an internship, solves problems, introduces them to the hospital, assigns them to inpatient units for the duration of the internship.
The curator, assigning us to a specific department, introduced him to the head of the department, the head nurse. For one day – stay in one department. At the beginning of the internship, I told the coordinator that I was most interested in uterine diseases. Therefore, he specifically allocated several days to work with this pathology.
Since in Poland medicine is insurance, we could not assist the surgeons, although we really wanted to: it would be interesting to work with the Polish tools with our own hands or at least with models. Instead, we only photographed the work of colleagues, we were allowed to observe the operation and ask questions. The operation is performed by 4 people, as well as here: two doctors, an anesthesiologist and anesthetic sister.
We could visit from four to seven operations per day. All this time, my colleague and translator stood behind the surgeon, watched the operation, asked questions. We have never been told that we should not look or ask about something. Even during a difficult operation for a cancer patient, Polish specialists answered our questions and commented on their actions.
Until noon, we were present in the operating room, after that we went to an outpatient reception.
Departments
For five days I visited 6 sections:
- cervical pathology
- operating
- gynecological
- oncogynecological
- outpatient
- maternity ward
Maternity rooms in Poland are equipped for one patient. The clinic had bath rooms. Postpartum wards are also intended for one patient only. All the equipment here is new, at a high level. In the birth rooms and the puerperal wards, all vital parameters are measured by a computer: pulse, blood pressure, round-the-clock tachography. We have few such devices in Rivne, the doctors are transporting them from the hospital to the postpartum and vice versa. In Poland, such devices are in each chamber and delivery room.
Most of all I remember the operating room. Here, 5 chambers function simultaneously and a clear work schedule is built: patient by patient.
The Polish department is absolutely not similar to the operating room of our hospitals: everything here works on the machine. There are no handles on the doors: only buttons and sliding doors. It is hygienic and comfortable.
Before entering the operating unit
Tools
The Polish state takes care of both doctors and patients. Therefore, technical equipment at the highest level, consumables are always enough. In the Rivne hospital, one package of surgical instruments. For the whole hospital, one conchome, and the doctors cherish it very much.
If after surgery we have to wait an hour until the instrument is sterilized, then there is no such deficit in Poland, the doctors work on a precise schedule: a new operation can begin exactly five minutes after the procedure.
Not every private clinic in Ukraine will find laparoscopes. In Poland, they are installed even in simple public hospitals.
Specificity of Polish clinics
In the Polish clinic they value the time of both the doctor and the patient. Reception is computerized, an electronic queue is built, and the schedule is very tight. If the patient is late, the next admission may be prescribed in a month.
According to the protocol, the doctor pays per patient an average of 20 minutes of outpatient admission. The documentation is digitized, the medical card is filled in 5 minutes.
If in Ukraine in a day I can perform a colposcopy, a biopsy of the cervix, and still have time for an operation, then this does not happen in Poland. The Polish doctor on an outpatient admission does only a biopsy or only colposcopy. For operation allocate a separate day.
In the lobby of the clinic with a colleague and translator
Atmosphere
In Ukraine, the patient often does not believe doctors, argues about the procedures and appointments, refers to information on the Internet. Therefore, the doctor instead of productive work often spends time explaining why the comment of the forum user is not related to the patient’s illness.
For Polish patients, the doctor is an authority. They have complete confidence in him, after receiving the patient will not go to check appointments in Google.
I liked the situation in the Polish team: the clinic had the feeling that I was in the family. No disregard for young doctors and residents. Each health worker does the work in the same rhythm with the others.
Standard Postpartum Chamber
Langridge
In the hospitals we did not meet Russian-speaking doctors, but in general many Polish doctors know Russian, someone taught him at school.
My colleague and I do not speak Polish, but the internship never had any problems with the language: every day we were accompanied by a Euromed translator. Polish is similar to Ukrainian, after a few days I began to clearly understand certain words and phrases.
At lunchtime
Total
For those who hesitate: Euromed’s internship is 100% met my expectations. I advise everyone to go! Even I, a doctor with a decade of experience, learned a lot of new things for my practice: how to optimize a workplace, more efficiently apply a particular research method, initiate consultation with other specialists (in particular, an onco-gynecologist, a mammologist-endocrinologist, etc.), how to set up your schedule and distribute your workload. At first glance, it seems that all this is obvious trivia. But in the end, the process and the result of the doctor’s work depend on these “obvious trifles”.
In the future, I would like to improve my knowledge in an even narrower specialized direction, and go on an internship in hysteroscopy, where for 5 days they work only with cervical pathology.
N.B !: When you are going on a trip – take a minimum of things: only the most convenient and necessary. The most important and expendable part is accommodation. Someone is booking a hostel or hotel on their own. If necessary – Euromed organizers will help to resolve this issue.
For myself, I determined that I would not move to work in Poland. I liked Warsaw, but I love Ukraine! It seems to me that it is important to learn and learn from the experience of foreign colleagues, but then use it here, in your own country.
I, a colleague and a translator before an outpatient admission
