Students of specialty 227 “Physical therapy, Ergotherapy” are engaged in volunteer and professional activities, providing rehabilitation assistance to all those in need. They are supported by scientists and teachers.
Third-year student Polina Skrypnyk owns taping and massage studios. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she provides assistance to the defenders for free. Before the war, she actively acquired professional knowledge, attended university and non-university courses.
“I started volunteering right from the beginning of the war. At first it was quite difficult for me to understand how I could help, so I decided that the best way is to do what I know how to do. I help our soldiers and all displaced persons. My volunteer activities take up probably 70% of my life. I try to work without days off. If I feel like I need to take a break, I take a day off, but I try not to get distracted. We will rest after the victory,” – commented Polina Skrypnyk. – “Even during a massage, I can turn on a lecture and listen, for example, to the surgery one. And do my job.”
A second-year student Sofia Trubnikova works as a nurse in the reception department of the Municipal Enterprise “Рoltava Regional Clinical Hospital named after M.V.Sklifosovskyy of Poltava regional Council”.
“After the Poltava Basic Medical College, I decided to improve my knowledge in physical rehabilitation – I like this direction, so I entered the Poltava Polytechnic to major in “Physical therapy, Ergotherapy”. I really like to study here.
The situation greatly affected my life, I moved from the physical rehabilitation department to the reception department. At first it was not easy, the workload was and is high – in addition to scheduled patients, there are urgent patients, many internally displaced persons arrive. But this is invaluable work experience, contact with patients, sorting, setting them up for treatment. And the patients themselves encourage us – it’s even unusual, but very pleasant. I like to get involved when it is necessary to process, sort or transfer humanitarian aid.
The defenders are inspiring, you want to have time to do more – they have such great strength, power in their eyes, they are determined to win, they never complain, they accept everything bravely, so we believe that everything will be fine,” – says Sofiia.
An experienced nurse anesthetist, currently a junior sergeant of the medical service Tetiana Yalova is majoring in specialty 227 “Physical therapy, Ergotherapy”:
“Even before the war, I became interested in massages. By education, I am a nurse anesthetist. I have experience as an anesthetist, operating room nurse, and intensive care nurse, but even before the war I changed my direction of activity somewhat, and started doing therapeutic as well as children’s massages. In 2020, when the pandemic began, I decided to go to study, use this time to improve my qualifications, and entered the Poltava Polytechnic.
People who have been injured in wartime are returning to normal activity for a longer time, especially war victims are those who need the support of rehabilitation specialists. The woman who was pulled out from under the rubble was very memorable.
My volunteering began in August 2014, when I arrived at the newly established hospital in the city of Shchastia. From December 2014 to July 2016, I served as a sanitary instructor at the medical center of the territorial defense of the city of Kyiv, I had to directly pick up the wounded, and it was also my duty to train the sanitary instructors to provide various types of assistance. From February 27, 2022, I am back at service.”
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” is doing everything possible to help those who need it right now.
“The Department of Physical Therapy and Ergotherapy of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” was involved in the rehabilitation of displaced persons from the first days, and then began to be involved in the rehabilitation of defenders. Now there is too much stress, the stressful state is more of a psychological problem, but then there are already physiological changes. We communicate with IDPs who currently live in university dorms. They come to our department for physiotherapy sessions – both grandmothers and children, of absolutely different ages. We work with everyone. Our psychologists and we try to be close: psychologists first relieve stress, and then we try to restore patients’ functionality. Senior students come to help in their free time. In addition, our students work in various clinics as massage therapists and physical rehabilitators, assistants of physical rehabilitators, and provide assistance to those in need at their workplaces. Many do it on a volunteer basis and out of a sincere desire to help,” – said the Head of the Department of Physical Therapy and Ergotherapy, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Victoriia Horoshko.
Earlier, university employees gave part of their salaries to the needs of Ukrainian defenders, a center for issuing individual food kits for IDPs was opened on the basis of the College of Oil and Gas, and students collected funds for a thermal imager for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in one evening.
Media Center of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
