The Ukrainian Catholic University is opening a medical clinic in Lviv, which will become an educational and practical hub. Here, specialists will provide qualified assistance to patients, and the facility will also become a base for training future workers in the medical field.
This is reported by the press center of UCU.
As Ms. Natalka Klymovska, vice-rector for development and communications, said, the main areas of work of the UCU Medical Clinic will be:
— family medicine (primary medicine, which provides consultation, diagnosis and therapeutic treatment);
— psychological assistance: specialists of the institution will implement mental health projects and conduct complex psychological therapy;
— physical therapy and occupational therapy: secondary rehabilitation for war veterans and civilians who need to restore physical activity after injuries or illnesses.
The UCU Clinic project is part of the Development Strategy of the Ukrainian Catholic University 2030. This is how the university works to heal the wounds of war and fulfills its mission of service – through medical practice and care for people’s health, it solves the social problems of the community.
UCU Rector Mr. Taras Dobko emphasizes: “We want to rethink the Faculty of Health Sciences around the topic of rehabilitation aimed at healing the human body and soul and reintegrating a person into social life. Our faculty plans to reorient the training of social workers according to the principle of wartime case managers. Our psychologists are actively working on reforming the system of providing mental health services and training specialists to provide such services at the level of local communities.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Ms. Svitlana Kohut adds that during the war, mental health problems of Ukrainians worsened, and the need for physical rehabilitation of our soldiers and civilians who suffered from the Russian invasion increased many times. “Accordingly, the need for psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, in particular in rehabilitation centers that can comprehensively provide a patient recovery service, has increased. As a faculty, we have the relevant professional expertise and are ready to respond to the challenges of wartime. In general, UCU has considerable experience of working at various levels with persons with disabilities, in particular, the Emmaus Center operates at the university. And since the beginning of the war, our specialists, together with students, have worked with internally displaced persons, families with children and veterans, providing psychological, social and rehabilitation assistance.”
The head of the UCU Medical Clinic is Ms. Oksana Kovalska, a therapist, cardiologist, experienced leader and manager in the health care industry, a volunteer who has 15 years of experience in medical practice, in particular with foreign medical institutions and patients.
Ms. Oksana says that a modern approach to therapy and a new culture of communication and interaction with patients will be a guidepost in the institution’s work: “The goal of the UCU Medical Clinic is a comprehensive approach to improving the nation. Tasks include providing primary medical care and teaching patients to respond in time to changes in the body and take care of their own health. We will conduct educational and educational work, involve doctors in trainings, educational lectures. For example, a pediatrician will conduct a course on motherhood and breastfeeding, an infectious disease specialist will give lectures on the prevention of infectious diseases and vaccination. We will also have a nutritionist from the USA working for us, who will lead a course on healthy eating.”
In order to provide comprehensive medical care, the UCU clinic also implements the practice of narrow specialists: therapist, otolaryngologist, audiologist, traumatologist, neurologist, cardiologist.
High-quality diagnostics will be carried out with the help of modern equipment and innovative approaches in medicine, leading specialists will be involved. One of the promising areas is audiology, the early detection of hearing impairment due to disease or injury/concussion.
Also, the Medical Clinic will become a practical training base for students of the Faculty of Health Sciences of UCU, which has been operating in the structure of the university since September 2016. Today, future specialists are trained here for two bachelor’s (Psychology; Social work) and three master’s programs (Clinical psychology with the basics of cognitive-behavioral therapy; Clinical psychology with the basics of psychodynamic therapy; Physical therapy and occupational therapy). Involvement of students in medical practice will contribute to the improvement of the professional level of future specialists and their acquisition of practical experience.
“One of our tasks is to create a discussion platform for the exchange of experience and practices among representatives of the health care sector,” adds Ms. Oksana.
The medical center will also provide a number of specialized services, including clinical research and international patient evacuation.
The UCU Medical Clinic is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024.