By Vivian Le
vivian-le@uiowa.edu
To prevent trips to the doctor ending with tears, University of Iowa medical students are putting children in scrubs and letting them enter the surgery division.
The Teddy Bear Clinic at Iowa held its third clinic since its inception in the spring on Nov. 12. The clinic allows children from ages 4 to 17 to experience the different stages of surgery by performing on their stuffed animals.
Xochiquetzal Martinez, a first-year surgical resident and graduate of the UI, was inspired by other teddy bear clinics around the nation, and wanted to start one at Iowa as a service project.
“We approach kids that aren’t used to the hospital setting and aren’t used to the clinic setting,” said Riley Boland, current president of the Teddy Bear Clinic at Iowa. “If we do have a kid who’s going to have a procedure done, we let the parents know that we want to know about that and that we will tailor it to their experience.”
The child begins by checking their patient in and telling the receptionists what is wrong with their stuffed animal. The child then is ushered by volunteers through several stages where the children learn how to look for vital signs, take x-rays, administer anesthesia, and much more. At each stage the child performs the task on their teddy bear and then are encouraged to try it out themselves.
Cedar Rapids resident Sherri Bartels brought her daughter, Avery, to Iowa City to participate in the program. Bartels said she found the clinic on Facebook and thought it would be fitting for her daughter who has had negative experiences at the doctor’s in the past.
“She does have a lot of breathing problems so she goes to the emergency room a lot,” Bartels said. “She got up on the bed [during the surgery stimulation] this time and said that surgery was her favorite part.”
Boland said the group is hoping to expand the clinic from 60 children per clinic to 120. He also is hoping the next clinic in the spring will include an ambulance simulator as well, so children can become accustomed to it.
Judith Wightman of North Liberty brought her son Nolan to the clinic in the spring. Nolan enjoyed it so much that Wightman brought him back.
“It’s actually pretty realistic in the sense that they walk the kids through a lot of departments. He has learned some new vocabulary and when he hears of an adult having surgery, he knows what they might go through … even if he hasn’t gone through it personally,” she said.
“We just want to make sure kids are not afraid to go to the dentist and not afraid to go to the doctors. We think the best way to do that is to show them that everything that what we do is safe,” said UI dental student Amanda Phan.
Phan said at the dental station children were able to see and use the dental drill, which can be a frightening part for children during a trip to the dentist’s office.
“A lot of kids have enjoyed the drill that we use, which is great because that can be something that is scary at the dentist office,” Phan said. “Normalizing everything is really important to make sure they do not get scared.”