Expert Guidance

The Children's Emergency Department is visited by patients after accidents on an electric scooter, cross bike, skateboard, and even after a bow shot or parachute accident. There are also more and more children who fall victim to "challenges" on social media. We talk about typical and unusual holiday injuries and the specifics of the work of a paramedic with Jakub Zachaj from the Medical Rescue Department WNoZ WUM.

A new career path is now opening for pharmacists, meaning professional pharmaceutical care of patients. - It comprises pharmacist advice, medication reviews, building an individual pharmaceutical care plan, selected diagnostic tests for evaluation of treatment and analysis of drug-related issues, as well as prescribing medications – says professor Magdalena Bujalska-Zadrożny, head of the Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutical Care Institute and Unit at WUM.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of rapid growth and hearing damage by Vestibular Schwannoma is very important because it may make it possible to identify patients who need to undergo the earliest possible intervention to avoid possible complications of the disease. In the future, it may also contribute to the development of new methods of pharmacological treatment of VS in people who, for various reasons, cannot undergo surgery or experience tumor regrowth after treatment," writes Dr. Małgorzata Litwiniuk-Kosmala, MD, PhD from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery UCC WUM.

Thoracic surgery is considered one of the harder specializations. Surgical procedures in the chest are undertaken on organs through which 100% cardiac output flows. – Less than twenty years ago, surgery used to be performed on an open chest. Now the intention is to maximize the percentage of low invasive procedures. All procedures on lungs except a lung transplant can be done in this way – says professor Bartosz Kubisa, thoracic surgeon from the UCK WUM Cardiac Surgery Department.

A hundred years ago, children suffering from the severe form of the disease would live to 9-10 years. Afterwards, when the cause of bleeding was already identified, patients lived much longer, yet there was damage to joints and permanent disability. – At the moment, their expected lifespan is the same as for the general population – says professor Paweł Łaguna, head of the Oncology, Pediatric Hematology, Clinical Transplantology and Pediatrics Department at the University Clinical Center, WUM Medical University of Warsaw.

With the widespread availability of screen displays and the Internet, their attractiveness and daily functionality have triggered major changes in people’s lifestyles. Using these devices excessively, without full awareness, involves certain threats to physical, mental and social life. People have to be aware of these threats and to learn what to do to protect their health, according to Magdalena Woynarowska, PhD hab., and Mariusz Panczyk, PhD hab., from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Medical University of Warsaw.

- In my studies, you have a personal growth opportunity, you discover a lot of new things, meet great people. You can test yourself by taking part in projects and international competitions. And every new program or contest interview is a new valuable experience - says Magdalena Szymańska, a nursing student, winner of Poland preliminary round of the EuroSkills Competition, Health and Social Care category.

- Climate change and frequent travel are leading to the establishment of exotic mosquitoes, such as the tiger mosquito imported into Europe. As a result, the list of pathogens present on our continent and in Poland is constantly changing. New species of mosquitoes, and with them new pathogens, can enter Europe, posing potential threats and challenges to health protection - writes Aleksandra Sędzikowska, PhD from the Department of General Biology and Parasitology of the Medical University of Warsaw.

"Today, we use nuclear medicine methods to treat thyroid cancer, prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. However, ongoing research gives us the hope that it will be soon possible to overcome many other cancers this way – says Prof. Jolanta Kunikowska from the Department of Nuclear Medicine at UCK WUM. – I know that many patients are afraid of radiation, which is probably because of the Chernobyl disaster. But the explosion at the power plant was an accident; the level of radiation was uncontrolled. In nuclear medicine, we control the dose with precision. We prepare radiopharmaceuticals "tailor-made" for a specific patient. And it is always the smallest possible dose, enabling diagnostics or effective therapy.

In Poland, midwives can provide independent care for a woman in healthy pregnancy and during regular childbirth and confinement, prescribe some medications and perform ultrasound examinations. - The law gives us the opportunity to act independently, but the health care system does not yet see, respect and use it - says Grażyna Bączek, PhD, Head of the Gynaecology - Obstetrics Didactics Department at MUW, Director for Nurses and Midwifes at St. Sophia’s Specialist Hospital in Warsaw.