Well-Doll Clinic

No! I am not getting trained to treat stuffed toys, like the giraffe you see in the picture! This is from an unique event held 2 weeks ago at my hospital, when children came in with their favorite toys that had imaginary illnesses, broken bones, cold, chest pain, etc. We had to 'treat' these patients in a comfortable and amiable environment, allaying any fears they might have about the visit to the doctor. This exercise involved the kid to assume responsibility of the toy's health and to help them understand that the 'doctor' is indeed a helpful and genuine person. We were given colorful band-aids, alcohol swabs, syringes, tongue depressors to introduce the children to the gadgets used commonly at a doctor's clinic.

The half-hour we spent there had its share of interesting moments. Whereas most kids came with complaints of 'boo-boo' in a limb or cough and cold, some had symptoms of heart pain (!) and bleeding from the nose, etc. They were most excited about receiving the splints (made from tape wrapped around tongue depressors) for broken bones, or getting an injection for decreasing the pain. Personally, I enjoyed the interactions with kids, some of whom were imaginative and wild in their explanations of problems, and others who were visibly anxious and tentative about the doctor visit. Most children had sex-specific occupational identities about a man being a doctor and a woman being a nurse ingrained in their minds. During this visit, they were encouraged to think that even girls could be doctors, and men nurses.