Strenghthening Resilience in the Ups and Downs of the Ways of Life During The War in Ukraine

Ukrainian family doctor's secrets on building resilience during war. During the short keynote lecture Pavlo Kolesnyk will share his observations on challenges and strengthening of resilience in different groups of population during war in Ukraine. The presentation is planned as a symbol of “surfing on the waves of life” during war.

Friday 6 October, 9:20

• Pavlo Kolesnyk
  Family doctor, PhD, Head of the Family Medicine and Outpatient Care Department Medical Faculty#2, Uzhgorod National University, Director of the International Clinic for IDPs “InterFamily”

1st secret: War and myself: personal experience of me and my family.

Seeing the chaos and lack of medical care for the incoming IDP, Pavlo and his wife Dr. Natalie Kolesnyk, felt they needed to help organize temporary medical care for the displaced citizens. They were joined by medical students, residents, other physicians and refugee doctors in this work. It was the initiative of his volunteer family doctors team to organize day and night medical service 24/7 on the border checkpoints, railway stations and shelters for refugees and IDPs in Uzhgorod and Chop. Soon there were organized several locations of the Volunteer Medical Centre . As neither of the numerous Uzhgorod clinics were ready to provide free medical services to this category of the population, mostly elderly people, women and children, soon came the realization that the latter would need an actual clinic where patients could receive free comprehensive evaluation and treatment. The situation aggravated even more when hundreds of medical institutions were purposely destroyed by the Russian invaders that caused a devastating effect on the Ukrainian health care system.

2nd secret: War and patients: medical aspects of internally displaced people care.

The IDP our staff  deals with minor children, single parents, elderly without family support, single or unaccompanied women, pregnant or lactating women, female-headed households without their male heads who became soldiers, widows or orphans, disabled and traumatized individuals. The goal of the Interfamily Clinic is to help  this most vulnerable layer of Ukrainian society survive and keep it healthy enough to lift Ukraine out of ruins one day.

3rd secret: War and family doctors: experience of family medical practice.

The team regards the Clinic as “a cadre forge”. Now after many months of the war Ukrainian doctors, residents and medical students have significant experience in providing medical humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people and local population during emergency situations. Their invaluable experience can be worth sharing with the international colleagues in both directions by hosting the international specialists here in Ukraine, the same as by their practicing abroad.

“4th secret” war and medical teaching: experience of a team of medical teachers.

The Interfamily Clinic is a unique medical institution in Ukraine.  It serves two important missions: (1) to provide high quality and full spectrum care for IDP and refugee families, and (2) to serve as an excellent facility for medical education for student doctors and family practice residents

The possibility of obtaining practical knowledge working with the patients attracts residents and medical students even from other faculties of Uzghorod University.

The residents take part in the work of the laboratory:  their task is to regulate the stream of the patients or participate in analysis decipherment and by this getting their own professional niche. In order to rotate young doctors and residents professionally the Clinic has implemented the American and European hands-on- practice and hands-on -teaching system. Such a doctor-assistant system  first, increases the number of residents involved in the process even from other clinics and secondly, gives them a real chance to test themselves in practical work.  The “three pair eyes” rule ( a doctor, a resident, a student) has been also implemented while treating one patient in order not to make a performance out of the process and not to embarrass a patient. As soon as a student gains experience he becomes an assistant. An assistant gets his scholarship while a student gets free education.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger