Dr. Veronika with a patient
The work of a doctor in Plamienok is a mission and a journey.
Veronika Jandová (28) decided to work as a doctor in Plamienok four years ago. Today she claims it is a job for courageous people with humility and a sense of adventure who want to work on themselves.
What is the work of a doctor in Plamienok like?
It's diverse. If I compare it with the work of a doctor in the hospital, which I had the opportunity to experience, working in Plamienok is much more personal and in a good way forces one to grow personally. If I look back at where I was three years ago, it's I see quite a nice journey.
Why?
If we met three years ago, our conversation would certainly look different. I would say less confidently, less thought-out, I would hardly be told of my losses and I think the first impression would be different. At Plamienok we work a lot with emotions and find ourselves in no easy situations. This leads a person to look inside himself and to look more into himself. He examines how he himself is set in life, where his priorities are, what his experience is. He certainly knows himself more and finds the resources of his power. It detects where it is going and understands what is going on around it and in it. As a result, she knows herself better and feels better about her life.
What is another work for an institution that provides children's home hospice care compared to hospital work?
It's a completely different system of work. I am more free in Plamienok and I appreciate the length of time we visit families. We visit one family a day we can spend an hour or more. This is incomparable with a hospital where you can have twenty minutes for a child.
What are you looking forward to doing for Plamienok?
Probably just contact with people. Many people think that our work is very sad and depressing. They ask us how we can do it. They think that we are working with dying children and their families, who are desperate and all just crying ... But often it is the other way around. I perceive that the people we meet can live and be happy despite the fact that they are in a difficult situation and despite what they are waiting for. It fills me with energy, too. Also, I am more aware of the joys of life and the little things I can look forward to.
Was there anything you were not prepared for in the medical work for Plamienok? Something that was an adventure?
Certainly, you cannot be completely prepared for this kind of job. Already when a person decides to study to medicine, he or she chooses a certain mission. It is also about what their preferences. Whether they prefer more practical work in a hospital or a job where people also accompany and can help patients in ways other than medical. Surely there are doctors who are more attracted to saving lives than accompanying. But for me accompanying patients and their families is a fascinating part of this work. It is surely beautiful to bring children into the world - it is a secret to the birth of life. But the same secret is also leaving them. And perhaps I myself am also looking for answers to what will happen next ... It is perhaps about accepting one's own finality.
What makes doctor's work different from the work of other employees in the organization?
We mainly deal with health issues. We are those who are on duty 24 hours a day. We are on the phone solving the current children's health problems. But it's not just about it. There will also be unexpected, sudden events, and then creativity. The whole accompaniment is creative activity.
Many people may think that such work cannot be sustained. After all, you have contact with the suffering of children, with dying ... What is your way to relax and decompress?
It is partly about the personal setting of how one perceives suffering. I think our work makes a lot of sense. It is precisely this suffering that we are eliminating to a great extent. I'm a pretty active person. When I have a bad day, I'm going to go jogging. Nature helps me. Plus the silence and loneliness I experience there.
