Rounds: Canadian doctors helping Ukraine

Dr. Julien Auger, an FP at Hôpital de Saint-Jérôme in St-Jérôme, Que., boarded a plane after the Ukrainian health ministry called for help from foreign medical workers, he told CTV News. His trip was not sponsored by any organization, but when he arrived, he joined a medical team working on the UkrainianPolish border in Hrebenne, Poland. On Facebook, Dr. Auger detailed some of the care he’s providing, from ensuring refugees with chronic illnesses get appropriate medication, to helping a toddler calm down using Paw Patrol on his cellphone. Dr. Auger sent out a call for help. On March 16 a group of 15 healthcare professionals with Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) arrived to work on both sides of the border. Dr. Anthony Fong, an emergency physician from Vancouver, is part of the team and told the News Forum that they’re providing primary and urgent care and seeing many cases of chronic disease, coughs and headaches. Read: Found in translation: How four Canadian doctors–and one of their moms–solved the diagnostic puzzle of a Ukrainian boy's 'horrific form of cancer' Other Canadian physicians are helping Ukrainians on Canadian soil. Physicians at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto are caring for five Ukrainian pediatric patients with cancer. The families are supported by the Ukrainian Pediatric Assistance Fund, set up by the SickKids Foundation. The Centre for Global Surgery at McGill University Health Centre and trauma experts at Montreal General Hospital are providing teaching modules and virtual support to physicians treating injured Ukrainians. The collaboration is not new, but intensified after the Russian invasion. It now includes the production of short videos translated into Ukrainian on basic first aid, trauma care and surgery. Medical students are stepping up too. Bita Azad, a second-year medical student at the University of Ottawa, started a fundraising campaign for the Canadian Red Cross Ukraine appeal. Darya Naumova, a fourth-year medical student at McGill, is helping through her role as vice-president of the Montreal branch of the Ukrainian National Federation. The group is fundraising and creating a list of people willing to support refugees in Montreal.

Rounds: Canadian doctors helping Ukraine

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