CLOWN DOCTORS AND HOW THEY ARE TRAINED

5. Practical training

The practical phase of the training is organized in the following way :
* 4 visits as an observer of a senior clown doctor
* 12 visits as a trainee clown doctor accompanied by a senior clown doctor.
It is important that this last phase happens regularly and continuously so that the trainee can adapt as well and quickly as possible to the hospital environment.
In certain cases, trainee clown doctors may be asked to finish their artistic training through training courses in an educational environment or other.

Medical knowledge

The training does not pretend not intend to train therapists. On the contrary, it is particularly important to sensitise potential clown doctors to the realities of hospital life. This is why the association's management insists that all artists who are being trained possess sufficient knowledge to be placed in a paediatric ward, in order to better understand the life of a child who is in hospital (and its close environment) and the overall rules by which a hospital is governed, including its hygiene rules.

Educational objectives

At the end of the training programme, clown doctors:
* Will be aware of and understand the structural and functional organisation of a paediatric ward, including the role of the carers and of the hospital staff,
* Will be aware of and know how to apply hygiene-related principles and rules in hospitals,
* Will be aware of the different types of isolation and the necessary behaviour when dealing with them,
* Will be aware of and know how to apply the principles and the rules pertaining to personal hygiene as well the principles of universal precautions,
* Will know how to apply principles relating to ethics and behaviour with a view to effective and respectful behaviour,
* Will recognize children's rights and the role of the supporting institutions,
* Will be aware of and understand the dynamics of parental relationships of sick children,
* Will be aware of children's reactions (of different ages) in the face of illness, pain, hospitalisation, care, death,
* Will be aware of evaluation models for evaluating pain in children,
* Will recognize these emotions in sick children and their families,
* Will know how to use the documentation produced by the nurse in order to extract information from it which they will need during their visit,
* Will be aware of and know how to apply the fundmental rules of visits, in relation to solving the more widespread real-life problems.

Artistic objectives

The objective of the artistic training module is to :
- train clown doctors and not clowns,
- enable artists to discover their personality,
- teach them to channel their emotions, to improve their general perception and to develop their senses,
- establish a relationship of trust and respect,
- enable them to discover the function of the work and reality of clown doctors.

Evaluation

The Theodora association has set up a systematic evaluation procedure of both candidates and participants. The goal of the evaluation is to measure the candidates's aptitude in carrying out a clown doctor activity and is the result of a dialogue between the candidate and the trainer.
It evaluates :
* the artistic aspects,
* their knowledge of the hospital world.