Neonatologist Antonia Bartetzko’s assignment, which marked the official start of the GZI programme ‘Hospital Partnerships’ between Charité Berlin and the Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan, lasted a total of six weeks. During her internship, she accompanies her medical colleague — he is the only neonatal physician in the country! — in the paediatric intensive care unit. She takes part in the morning rounds and discusses disease detection and treatment of critically ill babies with her specialist colleagues. The Berlin doctor offers numerous training courses on various topics, in which other assistant doctors regularly take part to report on their everyday work and present special cases. The nursing staff on the wards are also involved in the training programmes in order to improve the medical standard of care for premature babies and newborns.
A major problem in Bhutan is the lack of follow-up care for patients in the province, as there is a lack of both infrastructure and outpatient doctors in the country. There are currently only 18 trained paediatricians in the entire country.