TNMU Post-Graduate Students Completed Internship at Warsaw Medical University

On April 1 – June 1, 2023, TNMU post-graduate students Olha Kozak and Zoriana Sabat completed internship at Warsaw Medical University as part of the Erasmus+ program.

Olha Kozak, a second-year post-graduate student of the Department of Higher Nursing Education, Patient Care and Clinical Immunology, worked in three departments.

The first one was the Department of Nursing Education, which was headed by HD Lena Serafin. The head not only happily demonstrated the work at the department and the peculiarities of the educational process, but also offered to join the scientific work with post-graduate students of other universities. The scientific work concerns the peculiarities of translation and application of scales and questionnaires in different countries (Recommendations for the translation and cultural adaptation of a measuring instrument). This is very important for the practical and scientific activities of all medical workers, because this knowledge will not only help to reduce the time when creating and approving questionnaires, but will also make it possible to use already existing materials in the most acceptable form for every resident of a particular country. These materials are in the stage of editing and preparation for publication.

Olha Kozak actively participated in searching for information, writing research materials, even after moving to the next department using online learning systems. Also, further joint research is planned on the topic of care for patients with diabetes, which is one of the main parts of the dissertation topic of the post-graduate student. Also, the internship at this department gave an opportunity to compare the learning and teaching processes with the TNMU department and to gain a lot of useful information and ideas for improving future work at the department of our university.

The next part of the internship was the practical part which involved the work in the department of diabetology and internal diseases on the basis of the largest hospital in Warsaw, Banacha, under the supervision of the head of the department Prof. Leszek Czupryniak from April 4 to April 28.

Work in this department lasted 3 weeks, during which Olha Kozak not only examined patients, observed the process of diagnosis and treatment, but also actively participated in the work of the department by daily attending morning meetings, rounds, being a participant in discussions and councils, and also by examining patients with doctors of this department.

In addition, she studied the latest methods of diagnosing diabetes and conditions that precede the onset of the disease, tested and helped install devices for measuring glucose levels at home, and also studied the pharmacokinetics of drugs that are not yet registered in Ukraine and the possibility of combining these drugs for use in different variants of comorbidity.

The opportunity to do an internship in this department not only gave the opportunity to learn many practical skills, but also helped to gain additional knowledge for writing the dissertation.

The last department in which post-graduate student Olha Kozak interned (on May 1 – May 31) was the department of endocrinology, which is also located on the basis of the Banacha hospital. Olha Kozak worked under the guidance of the head of the department, Prof. Tomasz Bednarczuk and MD Indre Janek.

This department also provided an opportunity to acquire practical skills. The work lasted 4 weeks and was distinguished by a large number of rare and interesting cases. While working in this department, Olha Kozak was able to observe the examination and treatment methods of patients with neuroendocrine tumours, acromegaly, gynecomastia, endocarcinomas, exophthalmos, and pheochromocytomas. Some of these pathologies are common but poorly studied, so this experience will help in future practical and scientific work. O. Kozak actively worked with patients, communicating with them, collecting anamnesis, conducting physical examinations.

An important detail of this internship was that Olha Kozak helped with translation into Ukrainian for patients who were forced to leave Ukraine and need medical help while in Poland.

In addition, our PhD student was present at the weekly scientific reports of the staff of this department, where she was able to evaluate scientific achievements and take part in the discussion. It was also interesting to participate in a conference with radiologists, where the results of CT, MRI and other diagnostic methods for various pathologies of the endocrine system were discussed and explained in detail.

She also helped to conduct classes for foreign students. Work in the department not only gave a lot of knowledge about rare pathologies and the possibilities of their treatment, but also practical skills in working with difficult patients, which will definitely be needed in the future.

Zoriana Sabat, a fourth-year post-graduate student of the Department of Therapy and Family Medicine, worked in two departments. The first stage was a professional internship at the gastroenterology and internal medicine clinic at the Banach Hospital in Warsaw under the supervision of Professor Adam Przybyłkowski.

For 5 weeks, Z. Sabat had a chance to learn about the features of the clinic’s work on a daily basis by attending morning meetings, participating in clinical rounds, discussions of debatable cases during consultations with the participation of a radiologist, during which the results of diagnostic procedures, in particular CT, MRI, as well as probable further treatment and diagnostic tactics for patients were discussed. She also helped in the collecting information about complaints and case history of patients from Ukraine.

Zoriana Sabat got acquainted with the stages of modern medical and diagnostic procedures (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, ultrasonography and endoscopic ultrasonography), which were carried out on the basis of the clinic, indications and contraindications for them, patient preparation, features of their management (treatment, additional examinations, further observation). She had the opportunity to observe endoscopic removal of colon polyps, treatment of varicose veins of the oesophagus, taking biopsies from various parts of the gastrointestinal tract, fine-needle biopsy of focal lesions of the pancreas and liver, laparocentesis under ultrasound control, and evaluating the results of the urease test. The clinic practices one-day hospitalization, i.e. the patient is hospitalized for only one diagnostic or treatment procedure and on the same day, in the case of their satisfactory condition and the absence of complications, he/she is discharged, with the exception of cases of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, when the patient remains under observation for the next day. Zoriana Sabat took part in the survey and examination of patients before the specified procedures, as well as in the assessment of their condition after them. In addition, she got acquainted with the methods of teaching the “Gastroenterology” course on the basis of the clinic, the structure of the students’ working day.

The next stage was an internship in the outpatient clinic of general practice-family medicine under the leadership of Professor Ewa Gyrczuk, which lasted 3 weeks.

During this time, Zoriana Sabat compared the organizational principles of the general practice – family medicine outpatient clinic in Ukraine and Poland, the competence of family doctors, got acquainted with the medical documentation, in particular the DILO card (diagnosis and oncological treatment card), which is drawn up when a patient is suspected of having an oncological process, a list of laboratory and instrumental studies, to which a doctor can, if necessary, refer a patient free of charge, which is available to every patient who pays contributions to the National Health Fund, as well as opportunities for treatment of citizens of Ukraine who, due to the war, are forced to stay in the territory of Poland. She took part in the survey, examination and treatment of patients of various ages, including routine examinations of new-borns, children before vaccinations, of various profiles, with acute and chronic diseases (gastroenterological, cardiological, pulmonological, endocrinological, neurological, etc.).

Olha Kozak and Zoriana Sabat were participants of the 18th Congress for students and young scientists, which was held at the Warsaw Medical University on April 21-23, 2023. This gave them the opportunity to get acquainted with the results of scientific research of students from all over the world, as well as to participate in practical workshops, where they received new skills, confirmed by certificates.

During the internship, both students attended a Polish language course, which was completed by successfully passing the exam. This made it possible to better understand the country of internship in terms of culture.

During this internship, it was possible to create strong friendships with representatives of both foreign universities and post-graduate students from Ukrainian higher education institutions, in particular – Ivano-Frankivsk State Medical University and O. Bohomolets National Medical University, which provided an excellent opportunity to exchange experience.

Internship at the Medical University of Warsaw under the Erasmus+ KA 171 Staff and Student Mobility for Learning (PhD-students program) program provided a huge amount of theoretical and practical knowledge that will certainly contribute to the development of excellent specialists and allow to modernize the work of departments for even more effective treatment and rehabilitation of patients and also to develop as scientists within the walls of the at TNMU university. In addition, it created new opportunities for cooperation between the Warsaw Medical University and I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University.

The participants express their deepest appreciation to the administration and department of international relations of Ternopil National Medical University, as well as the department of international relations and curators of the Erasmus+ program KA 171 Staff and Student Mobility for Learning (PhD-students programme) of the Warsaw Medical University Lidia Przepióra-Dziewulska.