'Teddy Bear Hospital' in Derry sees young children introduced to the world of medicine to 'settle fears'

Christian Bennison is part of the Child Health Society at Magee University and came up with the innovative idea of running a Teddy Bear Hospital for children this week, with the Society of volunteers going out to visit Primary One and Primary Two classes at Model School on Northland Road.

Wednesday saw the graduate medical students introduce the children to the world of medicine in a bid to settle any fears children have about visiting doctors, educating in a fun way, and inspiring a new generation of doctors. And what better way to inspire a new wave of future doctors than to get little ones’ favourite teddies involved.

"The children were all very happy,” Christian explains. “We put the idea together a few months ago and came out to the school to meet with the principal who was really on board with it. We also met the classes a couple of months ago as well who were so delighted at the idea.

"Today they all brought along their absolute favourite teddies and there was a lot of excitement!

"The children were all really, really eager to learn. A lot of them had even been to the doctors before, so they had a fair idea of the sort of thing we were doing. They all had a really good time which was nice to see.”

Christian explains to The Journal: "We are on a graduate-entry medical course, so we all come from different backgrounds previously.

"Some of us have worked with kids before and some of us are new to working with kids, and a lot of us are now on placements with kids, so forming the Child Health Society was a great way of forming a group with a special interest in Paediatrics and working with children. We had discussed the idea of the Teddy Bear Hospital when we first set up the society last year, and so with this year seeing an influx of new members, we thought this was the perfect time to do it.”

Christian adds: “The idea behind the hospital is kids are a lot different to adults in terms of their size, their shape and their temperament.

"The idea came about because I have worked with kids in the past and it is a big stigma that kids are really scared of things. But understandably it can be scary for a young child when a stranger is trying to look in their nose or their throat and listen to their chest.

"However, we actually found that a lot of the kids today were so open to trying different things. We showed them ‘medicine’ for example, which was just a little dash of juice in a syringe, and we counselled them a little bit on why it is so important to take medicine when they need it to make them feel better, and they really loved that idea.

"We did an Ears Nose and Throat station as well, where we brought some lollipop sticks and some lights and swabs and showed the children what we are doing when we look in their mouths. A lot of the children were really receptive of that and even did it themselves, on each other, which was really good.

"We also did some work with X-rays and MRI scanners. Naturally, it can be quite daunting going to be a big tube and getting a scan, especially for little children. So for the children we scanned their teddy bear and gave them a special ‘teddy bear X-ray.’ We also played some noises of what they might expect to hear should they ever find themselves having an MRI or an X-ray themselves.

"Today was all about showing the children simple things that might seem a little bit scary if you were seeing them for the first time as a child in a hospital setting. Hopefully we helped to alleviate some of those fears for the children and let them see doctors are friendly!”

Christian says they aim to progress the idea even further next year, following the fun and success of this year’s event.

"A lot of children were extremely good at looking in throats and examining chests, and quite a few knew exactly where organs like the heart and lungs are, which is amazing to see at such a young age. The children were very receptive to the questions we were asking, and hopefully we may have helped sparked some sort of journey into a healthcare profession in the future,” Christian enthuses.

Next year, the Children’s Health Society would “love to expand” the concept of the Teddy Bear Hospital even further, with ideas including hosting the event during a Saturday in a venue in Derry and extending the invitation to parents and children to come along. “It depends on our volunteer numbers as we’ll be all over the country for placements next year,” Christian explains. “But hopefully as the Society continues to grow and progress and numbers expand it is something we will be able to continue to run and grow.”

Christian said the project was to dispel any fears or concerns children may have about visiting doctors or hospitals. "The take home message from today, is hopefully that we are not scary!” he said.

"We hope some of the children here today will take home some of those messages that we are only there to help.

"Doctors don’t want you to ever feel frightened and whilst we understand hospitals can be a scary place to be, with all the unknown noises and lots of people around you that you haven't met before, we are truly only here to help you feel better.”