About 300 five-year-old pupils from eight schools in the capital of Segrià will, between now and Friday, visit the Teddy-Bear Hospital organised by the Health Sciences Students’ Association (AECS) of the University of Lleida (UdL). This initiative is aimed at children between 3 and 6 years old so that they can lose their fear of going to health centres and of healthcare staff. The activity takes place in the municipal Albarés building, next to the Bordeta play centre.

This year, children aged 5 to 6 from the schools Camps Elisis, Espiga, Joan Maragall, Joc de la Bola, Maristes Montserrat, Parc de l’Aigua, Pràctiques I and Pràctiques II are taking part. Around seventy UdL students, mainly from the Medicine, Biomedicine and Nursing degrees, are in charge of guiding them through different “stations”, where the children learn how to carry out a wide range of non-invasive examinations.

In the doctor’s office, they can “vaccinate” their toys and give them a physical examination using medical tools such as reflex hammers or stethoscopes. In the X-ray room, the boys and girls draw the injuries that appear on images reproducing the teddy bears’ skeletons. And in the operating theatre, they look after them and “operate” on them. In this last setting, the children wear green gowns (reusable), caps and paper masks (single-use).

The initiative, which UdL students began running in Lleida in 2008, currently has the collaboration of the Paeria’s Department of Education, Youth and Employment.

Source: Premsa UdL