Themes by tag: doctors

On October 10, 20 children in Lviv will get a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get hands-on experience in robotic surgery using Ukraine’s only Da Vinci Si system. For the first time, they will step into the role of surgeon, operating the very robot that helped save their lives.

The session coincides with the opening of a new, state-of-the-art operating theater at St. Nicholas Hospital, built from scratch in just one year with support from the Scottish charity Kids OR. The organization, which has renovated 101 operating theaters in 35 countries, is bringing its expertise to Ukraine for the first time. The new facility will significantly expand the hospital’s surgical capacity at a time when its workload has tripled since the start of the war.

The session will take place in the hospital’s old operating room, after which the Da Vinci system will be moved to the new theater. Since the first pediatric robotic surgery in Ukraine 18 months ago, Lviv doctors have completed 106 procedures – the most in Eastern Europe. Their youngest patient was just two months old.

Registration is required to attend.

• children
• doctors
• Lviv

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion by russia, he defended the country. In September 2022, he sustained severe injuries and lost both legs. He received prosthetics and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. Subsequently, he returned to work as a veterinarian in Odesa.

Oleksiy joined the national team that represented Ukraine this year at the first-ever Winter Hybrid Invictus Games in Canada (disciplines: curling, skeleton, alpine skiing, rowing on simulators). He also participated in the All-Ukrainian wheelchair rugby competitions. Additionally, he practices archery and wheelchair basketball.

Upon prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Oleksii in person in Odesa or online.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

Ukraine’s sole military veterinary facility, the First Military Hospital of Veterinary Medicine, operates in Khmelnytskyi. Its veterinarians provide care not only for service animals but also for the pets of displaced families. The hospital regularly treats animals with concussions or shrapnel wounds.

The hospital’s specialists also travel into frontline and recently liberated areas to rescue animals, making more than 50 such trips so far. One survivor is a fox from Bucha, discovered by children and brought to the doctors. Despite burns covering nearly 80 percent of its body, the animal was saved and still lives at the hospital.

Altogether, the hospital’s team has treated several thousand animals since the start of the full-scale war.

• animals
• doctors
• Khmelnytskyi

In October, the Hospitallers will conduct a series of training courses on pre-medical care and tactical medicine for civilians and volunteer medics. These include “Basic Life Support”, “Hemorrhage Control”, “First Aid for Trauma”, “Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Course”, and “Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Course”. The courses will be held in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and the Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Journalists may cover the training sessions upon prior arrangement.

For reference: The Hospitallers Medical Battalion has operated on the front lines since 2014. Its crews conduct dozens of evacuations daily along almost the entire front line. 

Since 2015, the Hospitallers have provided tactical medicine training, and since 2018, they have provided pre-medical care training. Their instructors are certified by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) in the United States, the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy, and other organizations.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv

Alina Kirina spent much of her childhood in her grandmother’s dental office. The early exposure influenced her career path. Despite her family’s warnings about the long, costly road to becoming a doctor, she chose the profession anyway, and earned her degree.

Her path, however, was anything but simple. In 2014, as a dental student, she fled her hometown of Luhansk with nothing but a backpack when russia first launched its assault in eastern Ukraine.

Together with her future husband, now a National Police officer and combat veteran, Kirina started over in Svatove, Luhansk region. For years she worked for others while quietly dreaming of opening her own clinic.

That dream was still out of reach when russia escalated its all-out invasion in February 2022. But this time, the couple knew how to act fast. Within hours of the first strikes, they had packed their car and driven to safety in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

In Dnipro, Kirina resolved to leap forward. With the help of a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, she opened her own dental office. The practice is more than a business – it carries a mission of service. Every Thursday, she and her team offer free consultations to service members, their families, and displaced people. Ukrainian defenders also receive discounted care.

Kirina is available for interviews in Dnipro, either in person or online by appointment.

• doctors
• women
• Dnipro

Three missions are initiated and organized by the Charitable Foundation “Christian Medical Association of Ukraine” under the Mobile Care project, in partnership with the North America Taiwanese Medical Association, Luke Christian Medical Mission, and MacKay Memorial Hospital.

The Taiwanese medical missions in Ukraine represent a collaboration with the international medical community and a response to the challenges faced by Ukraine’s healthcare system amid the full-scale war.

Schedule of planned events:

August 27-28: Mobile medical clinic in Korosten (Zhytomyr oblast);

August 29-30: Mobile medical clinic in Kyiv for families of fallen heroes, veterans, and Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers;

August 27-29: A team of Taiwanese doctors will conduct consultations and participate in surgical interventions at the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv.

The missions will also visit Lviv, Rivne, and Vinnytsia. Additionally, Ukrainian medical professionals will have the opportunity to attend a certified ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) course by the American Heart Association (AHA) free of charge.

Background: The Mobile Care project, initiated by the Charitable Foundation “Christian Medical Association of Ukraine”, operates in frontline and de-occupied regions of Ukraine. In 2024, the project has provided medical assistance to 4,022 patients in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr, and Odesa oblasts.

• doctors

Before russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Andrii was a pediatrician and headed the health department in Kharkiv region’s Zlatopil District State Administration. When he mobilized into the Defense Forces of Ukraine in 2023, he joined the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Today, Andrii goes by the call sign “Baz” and serves at a Battalion Aid Station, assisting surgeons on the front lines. Although his medical practice once focused only on children, he says his experience in the military revealed a striking similarity. “The soldiers are just like kids,” he remarked, “only with beards.”

Andrii can be reached for interviews both online and in person, with prior coordination through the brigade’s press officer.

• doctors
• military

French benefactors have donated a dental ambulance to the FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer mission for use in frontline areas. The vehicle will serve as a unique mobile clinic to provide free care to civilians, particularly children, in Ukraine’s frontline regions and in orphanages. This will enable FRIDA Ukraine doctors to reach the most remote communities where medical infrastructure is either non-existent or has been destroyed by the war.

The first mission will take place on August 21-22 in the Chernihiv oblast. For two days, the team of FRIDA Ukraine dentists will provide free dental treatment to residents of frontline areas.

French benefactors will join the medical team on this mission.

Journalists can learn more about this initiative and cover the medical mission.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Chernihiv

Olena Budz, known by her call sign “Kytsia” (Kitty), is a Kyiv native who once worked as head of SMM at a film studio, leading major advertising campaigns and promoting Ukrainian cinema.

On the day a russian missile struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Olena was at work, far from the blast site, but the sense of helplessness was overwhelming. It was then that she decided to complete medical training and join the volunteer medical battalion.

Since then, she has served in every evacuation role – from casevac and medevac to working at a stabilization point and on the “Avstriyka” evacuation bus. Her deployments have taken her to the Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk sectors.

Olena has also returned to photography, a longtime passion. During rotations, she captures portraits of crews, soldiers, the wounded, and medical personnel, using her images to tell their stories.

• doctors
• women

In August and September, the Hospitallers Medical Battalion will hold a series of training courses on pre-medical care and tactical medicine for civilians and volunteer medics. The courses include: Basic Life Support, Bleeding Control, First Aid for Trauma, Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Training, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC CMC) Training. The courses will take place in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Journalists can cover the training sessions by prior agreement.

Background: The Hospitallers Medical Battalion has been operating on the front lines since 2014. Their crews conduct dozens of evacuations daily along nearly the entire frontline.

The battalion has been providing tactical medicine training since 2015 and pre-medical aid courses since 2018. Their instructors are certified by NAEMT (National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, USA), UMMA (Ukrainian Military Medical Academy), and other recognized organizations.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv