Following on from our fresh topic, we would like to introduce Evgen Grizhymalskyi, the Head of the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Department, who regards medicine as his vocation!
— Why did you become an anaesthesiologist?
— During my studies, I was working in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. This influenced my choice of specialization. As an anaesthesiologist, you deal with emergencies. This is exactly what fascinated me. And then I realized that anaesthesiology is a very dynamic specialty: success or error during anaesthesia or resuscitation can be seen immediately. This imposes a great responsibility. It makes you organized and disciplined. By the way, anaesthesiologists are perhaps the most disciplined of all doctors in everyday life. They are not late for work or appointments. They do not think in rough terms like “a little drug”. Everything should be flawless here: in milligrams per kilogram per minute. The patient’s life depends on accuracy.
— How often do new equipment and new technologies appear in anaesthesiology?
— There are plenty of novelties. New drugs and equipment appear to monitor the patient’s condition. Currently, there is excellent equipment which allows us to monitor the patient during both the surgery and postoperative period. Our department is supplied with modern equipment which is used in the world’s leading clinics, namely, the anaesthetic breathing systems to monitor the patient’s condition. The doctors work more efficiently during both the anesthesia procedure and postoperative period, not to mention pain relief during labor.
— What is the concept of responsibility for you as an anaesthesiologist? Is this just a legal term, or rather a moral category?
— A doctor cannot be irresponsible. The anaesthesiologist’s responsibility equals the person’s life. A sense of responsibility becomes a part of the doctor’s personality, his/her character trait. There are no conventions or inaccuracies in my specialization because it can cost the patient’s life. The responsibility is equally high when it comes to resuscitation and when anesthesia is performed before surgical intervention or during childbirth.
— What approaches to pain relief in labor are taken at Leleka Maternity Hospital?
— Fortunately, my attitude to this issue completely coincides with the approach promoted by the maternity hospital: a woman has the right to a humane treatment during childbirth, and this, above all, includes pain relief. This is even more important during delivery with the partner, which we also actively implement and support. If a woman has a partner during childbirth, it is important that she does not feel pain and could communicate with her partner and doctors. If a woman suffers, it makes her partner suffer as well. Anesthesia makes it possible to avoid that. Of course, a woman can refuse pain relief during labor. But many are reassured by the fact that they can receive epidural anesthesia during labor at any time. In North America and Western Europe, epidural anesthesia is used during more than 90 % of childbirths. In Ukraine, the opportunity to benefit from epidural anesthesia during childbirth depends on the level of the hospital. There are healthcare facilities which use it in less than 1 % of cases. In Leleka, every woman can take the opportunity of pain relief. All the doctors of our department have extensive experience in managing pain relief during labor, so the procedure will be as safe as possible, and the childbirth will be painless.
— You are the Head of the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Department. Will you have enough time for practice?
— Yes, I was drawn by the opportunity to work practically. In general, heads of the departments work every day. They work with all patients in serious conditions and all complicated cases. As for administration, the work at Leleka is organized according to Western models. We have adopted the experience of clinics in the USA and Israel. Everyone here has his/her own area of activities and is responsible for it. Therefore, fortunately, I have much more practice rather than administrative work.
— How does Leleka Maternity Hospital differ from other private maternity hospitals?
— Firstly, we have the best technical resources in Ukraine, novel and cutting-edge equipment. The clinic positions itself as innovative, and this fully lines up with reality. Secondly, there is highly qualified and highly professional staff. I don’t think you can surprise anyone with the high level of service. Leleka is not an exception. We have a patient-centered approach: we focus on the woman and her child, who comes into the world within the walls of our hospital.
— What does your profession mean to you?
— This is both a hobby and a job. Medicine is a vocation. Like all doctors, I am guided by the main postulate: noli nocere — do no harm. As an anaesthesiologist, I must observe, timely make the right decision and help the patient. In our department, everyone works properly for one goal: the health of our patients.
