Family Doctors Calling in Transcarpathian Region in the Wartime

Abstract

After the russian invasion, 60,000 refugees from the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, who had many problems with physical and mental health, arrived in Uzhgorod. A team of family doctors, residents and students with the support of volunteers and various medical, educational, charity and religious organizations started a volunteer project, which later grew into the “InterFamily” clinic. Starting as a charity center where internally displaced persons could receive free and high quality primary care and medicines purchased through donations from international partners, today it has become a licensed clinic that provides many different medical services (some of which are unique in our region), and as well as primary (i.e. psychological) and secondary care not only to refugees, but also to city residents. The “InterFamily” clinic is a training center for students and residents who gain hands-on skills and experience, and have the opportunity to become staff members as clinic assistants, providing greater autonomy and the opportunity to gain clinical and management skills. Thanks to the European-Ukrainian Support In Teaching (later EUSIT-Exchange) project, the European experts have been conducting practical lectures for Ukrainian doctors and nurses and students since the beginning of the war. The clinic’s innovative medical and educational experience is valuable not only for Ukrainian, but also for foreign specialists. The international recognition of the “InterFamily” clinic was confirmed by the WONCA Europe 5 Star Doctor Award to the director of the “InterFamily” clinic Pavlo Kolesnyk.