Winter practice 2016- from the pen of Mohammed Haseeb – citizen of India

The students of the 4th and 5th year of the faculty of general medicine at Kiev medical university- Kiev Ukraine on Jan 17- 2016 arrived to Poland for their three week intensive hospital training at Municipal hospital in the city of Knurow in Poland.

As per the words of the group of 14 students from the 4th and 5th year of our university from India, Nigeria and Namibia lead by Effi , a student at the faculty of general medicine from Israel the winter practice organized by the university is a golden opportunity for the students to gain exposure of the highest level. The students are given an opportunity to get clinical exposure and acquaint themselves to the latest EU standards and protocol in health care system. Each year a group of about 20 students are carefully selected by the university and recommended by our university who show good basic knowledge in each subject and show their hunger for more exposure and knowledge.

As they say be never be content or satisfied with the knowledge as it’s never enough and one just doesn’t stop learning.

The account of the visit-

A group of 14 students left for city named Katowice (Poland) from Kiev on Jan 17 2016 and were received in Katowice by our group leader Dr. Effi who was there already and arrived three days prior to our visit and helped arrange everything for us.

Pre arrangements had been made by the Kyiv medical university of Uafm for transfer of our batch to city Knurow where the training was supposed to take place. The city is about 34 km from Katowice city center. The training was scheduled in municipal hospital in Knurow. The hospital had 4 major departments- Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radiation medicine and Radiology.

The three weeks rotations had been divided into one department a week with radiology and radiation medicine being an integral part of work at each department.

How does it all work –

We start at 8 AM in the morning by reporting for the rounds. The entire batch is divided equally in groups and each group is placed into a particular department.. The busy day starts hereon with each intern taking up charts and rounds for their respective wards and reporting it to the doctors in about 40 min.

The entire day follows with new admissions, basic follow-ups and procedures. The difference though lies in the fact that the students are given hands on training to perform certain procedures and handle each case using the EU protocols. The doctors are teachers here taking individual attention in each case and making sure that even a small effort by the student is appreciated and he/she is motivated to work harder.

The entire day passes in attending procedures for surgery interns and taking histories and discussing the intricacies of internal medicine. USP 1- You have here what is called a brain storming session where the interns and a resident makes sure that the train of thoughts that a student has are on the right track for each case. The discussion room is equipped with literature for reference and on the spot reading.

The usual working day ends about 7 PM when students follow back to their on campus hostel where they have a kitchen and all the basic things for a student accommodation.

The campus supports a cafeteria which serves meals at really student friendly cost.

Student Life –

Hospital Facilities –

The hospital though not the largest in the country is equipped with all the modern and state of art facilities according to the EU standards with wards and the hospital itself having all the major facilities needed. The hospital has its own paramedic team bringing in patients from the town and the surrounding villages. The hospital has its own state of art laboratory and radiology unit on campus making it perfectly comfortable for the doctors to get all their tests done at their whim and fancy.

Expenditure –

A student diary must also include the amount of money a student spends during his entire stay.
Visa and documentation charges – 65 Euros
Travel to and from – 40 Euros
Training cost for three weeks – 275 Euros
Living expenditure for 3 weeks- 100-150 euros

Knowledge and exposure gained- Priceless.

Summary –

Summarizing my opinion of the three weeks in Knurow I would like to stress on the fact that the exposure and knowledge received is priceless in three weeks. The entire project is like living the dream of getting EU standard education and training while studying in Ukraine. The Kyiv medical university of UAFM makes it possible for its deserving students to have such an amazing opportunity which makes it according to me the best place to study in Ukraine. Given a chance again I shall again come back to knurow next time to enhance my skills in clinical medicine to be a better doctor.