Hospitals and doctor’s offices can be stressful environments for children, but a group of Perth medical students says they are working to reduce the anxiety around healthcare for children through a student-led program.

‘Teddy Bear Hospital’ is a program aimed at lessening the fears for kids around healthcare and helping student doctors learn how to interact with child patients. 

The initiative began in Norway in 2000 and has since spread globally to medical schools in over 28 countries. In WA, the program runs through medical student associations at three universities: the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Notre Dame University. 

The workshops run in pre-kindy or kindergarten classrooms and children are encouraged to bring their ‘sick’ teddy bears into school. Medical student volunteers will then roleplay as doctors to ‘fix’ the teddy bears, teaching children about x-rays and other medical procedures along the way.

The University of Western Australia’s Medical Students Association (WAMSS) has been running the program since 2011 and organises Teddy Bear Hospital visits for five to eight schools every semester. 

UWA Teddy Bear Hospital coordinator Cliff Tan says the program tries to reduce stigma around going to the doctors for kids. 

“We try to promote that going to the doctors is not as scary as it seems,” he says. “Some kids might have had bad or painful experiences at the doctor’s office in the past, so they tend to be a little bit scared.”

“Younger kids who are sick often go through pretty scary procedures, like using needles or cannulas, so they often have a preconceived fear when they have to go to the doctors.”

Mr Tan says the program has also helped him to better understand children’s behaviour when unwell. 

“I think it’s good to get acquainted with kids who are healthy because it helps you to understand how they might act differently when they are sick.”

Mental Health professional Erin Fitzgerald says Teddy Bear Hospital is beneficial in reducing anxiety in children by familiarising them with medical processes.

“Anxiety is a fear that mostly comes from either a fear of what we can’t control, or a fear of the unknown,” she says. 

“Going to the doctors as a child lumps both of those things together. It’s a situation the child can’t control, with lots of grown-ups around them telling them what to do, which can be scary for kids. It’s also a fear of the unknown as it is not their home environment or somewhere that they have familiarity with.”

Ms Fitzgerald says the program is also a great way to teach trainee doctors how to interact with kids.

“When you’re a uni student, you usually don’t have your own kids, your friends don’t have kids, and your siblings are normally grown up as well. You’re not actually around children, so it can be hard to know how to act around children,” she says.

“The program would help the students to learn how to interact with children. You can’t go up to a child and speak to them the exact way you would an adult, especially when you’re talking about medical jargon and diagnoses. So I think it would really help them to learn how to tailor their interactions with patients who are children.”

An inquiry into child development service wait times was tabled in parliament today, revealing that a staff shortage across the state could leave children waiting more than 24 months to see a paediatrician. 

The report recommends a greater focus on paediatric healthcare in WA universities to encourage more students to choose the medical specialty. 

Programs like Teddy Bear Hospital have been successful in other countries in making students more comfortable with paediatrics, according to academic research.

Teddy Bear Hospital Coordinator and medical student William Yap says there has been a high level of participation in the program this year.

“It’s always good to see people engaging with Teddy Bear Hospital. In the past we have had some trouble with a lack of volunteers, but so far this year we have had a huge number of people signing up and coming to our events.”

Both Mr Tan and Mr Yap say the program has encouraged them to pursue a career in paediatrics. 

“It’s been a very rewarding experience,” says Mr Yap. “Career-wise, it’s definitely made me consider paediatrics because I’ve seen how fulfilling it can be.”

“I started volunteering for Teddy Bear Hospital in my first year, and I’ve been involved ever since. Because it has exposed me to children a lot more, I’m definitely interested in paediatric medicine in the future,” says Mr Tan.