If necessary, students of the Faculty of Medicine of UPJŠ are ready to give the helping hand to medical facilities when testing patients for the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus by treating patients, or any other appropriate form. Since Tuesday, 17 March 2020, medical aid has been needed to select patients at the central reception of the L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, as well as to manage patients who have contacted the Call Center and are planning to visit the hospital.
Volunteer work for the L. Pasteur University Hospital Košice started by the first 19 students of general and dental medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of UPJŠ, who are either sorting (triage) patients at the entrance to the hospital or by telephone to persons heading to the medical facility whom had previously contacted the Call center for respiratory problems or suspected contact with coronavirus. Other medical students are also ready to help.
“Those interested in volunteering are coordinated by the members of the Academic Senate of Faculty of Medicine UPJŠ for the student part. At the moment we register a total of about 50 students of our faculty whom are interested in some form of help. In the upcoming days, we are ready to expand the scope of volunteer work of our colleagues and help the various components to cope with the state of emergency” says Ester Tomajková, 4th year student at faculty of Medicine UPJŠ and member of the student part of the Academic Senate of Faculty of Medicine UPJŠ in Košice. Medical students have also offered healthcare facilities to take care of the children of health professionals while they work in the hospital.
Members of the student part of the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Medicine UPJŠ have been working closely with the faculty management to improve the awareness of Slovak and foreign students since the announcement of the extraordinary situation in Slovakia and the interruption of full-time teaching at the Faculty of Medicine of UPJŠ in Košice. In addition to various study-related information, they also provide guidance to colleagues on how to create their own protective equipment, as well as advice on maintaining mental health in this situation. In particular, they help foreign colleagues who have stayed away from their homes and loved ones for their studies in Slovakia in this situation.
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine UPJŠ prof. MUDr. Daniel Pella, PhD. highly appreciates students’ interest in helping the health sector and other areas. “I greatly appreciate our students who study and fulfill their duties remotely in this situation, but at the same time they help each other and also offer selfless help to medical facilities, but also to other units. In difficult times, the characters break, so to speak, and apparently those difficult times are just waiting. With all optimism, we need to prepare for congested hospitals and medical staff who will need the help of an avid young people whose dream was to become a doctor. I believe that our students will help wherever it is needed, and they will learn a lot,” says Dean prof. MUDr. Daniel Pella, PhD.
