THREE-year-old qualified teddy doctor Alex can find Big Ted's patella, check his blood pressure and give him a hug for being so brave during a check-up.
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Ballarat medical students are uniting to create the city's first official teddy bear hospital, open to the public next Monday.
This follows successful operations into schools but will be what teddy bear hospital committee members Evelyn Andrews (University of Melbourne) and Mieke Foster (Deakin University) hope will be the start of a Ballarat tradition.
Medical students practice their teddy-based tutorials in Melbourne for the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal and in Chadstone, but this will be the first united teddy bear hospital in Ballarat.
Ms Andrews and Ms Foster have teamed with University of Notre Dame (Australia) medical student Emma Spinks and Australian Catholic University nursing-paramedicine student Sophie Reid to bring schools together, including Federation University health students.
"We'll all be working together in the future. At university we're all separated so much, this helps give a better appreciation of our jobs," Ms Andrews said.
At university we're all separated so much, this helps give a better appreciation of our jobs.
- Evelyn Andrews, medical student
Teddy doctors-in-training will work through different stations from the moment their teddy arrives via road or air ambulance and is triaged.
Teddies will meet the doctor, undergo a pathology test, have surgery, get their teeth checked, make sure vaccinations are up to date, get an X-ray, have teddy physiotherapy, meet a dietitian and optometrist.
When a teddy is discharged, they must meet a pharmacist and their human friend can obtain full teddy doctor qualifications.
Consults don't need to be serious - there can be bubbles.
- Mieke Foster, medical student
"There are a lot of other benefits, even though our key goal is to help make sure kids aren't scared if they have to see a doctor," Ms Foster said.
"It's also about healthy lifestyle: eating and playing well, brushing your teeth; and, looking after your body.
"We want it to be fun and engaging. Consults don't need to be serious - there can be bubbles.
"Part of our goal is also to tech students ways to make consults. It can be very easy to get caught up in patient problems and disease. Learning communication is a soft skill but in health it's really important."
Lumen Christi Primary School hosted a University of Melbourne-led teddy bear hospital in-school session early last month. Students hoped to also expand this program.
To enter Ballarat Teddy Bear Hospital requires a gold coin donation to support Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital children's ward.
Bring along your teddy next Monday to the Gardiner-Pittard foyer, off Drummond Street between 10am and 3pm. More details, visit Ballarat Teddy Bear Hospital 2019 page on Facebook.
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