Ukrainian doctors on clinical exchange visit to Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Six Ukrainian doctors arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a four-week clinical exchange program at MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, with the aim of taking back valuable medical knowledge to their war-torn country.

The six-member team, including two doctors who have worked at military hospitals during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, are specialists in fields such as anesthesiology, pediatrics, orthopedics, emergency medicine, and critical care medicine, according to MacKay hospital.

The exchange visit follows three medical missions to Ukraine by teams from MacKay hospital, Chang Wen-han (張文瀚), the hospital's superintendent, said at a press conference on Monday.

Medical staff in the eastern European country have recognized Taiwan's high medical standards and are "willing to continue their learning here and engage in further mutual exchanges," he said.

The exchange program at MacKay hospital will focus on medical care in the rear of the battlefield, including surgical treatment, according to Tsai Wei-de (蔡維德), director of the hospital's International Medical Services Center.

Taiwan has extensive and diverse experience in managing mass casualty incidents and is renowned for its critical care expertise, he said.

Oleksandr Nazarchuk, a member of the visiting Ukrainian team and an anesthesiologist with 17 years experience, said that the war in his country has brought unexpected challenges to its healthcare system, presenting medical professionals with new problems to solve every day.

"Our doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers face the daunting task of providing care to patients in difficult -- and sometimes not comfortable -- extreme situations," he said.

Taiwan's support is "real," Nazarchuk said, explaining that some hospitals in Ukraine, including the one at which he works, recently received medication and special medical devices from Taiwan to treat burn patients.

Nazarchuk said he was eager to learn about the practices at MacKay, as the knowledge gained during the exchange visit can be taken back "to our hospitals and implemented in our practice to help our people."

On the question of what Taiwanese medical professionals can learn from their Ukrainian counterparts about treating patients during wartime, Nazarchuk said that doctors from both countries can exchange knowledge and discuss different approaches to managing such cases.

MacKay cardiologist Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), who was a member the third medical mission to Ukraine, welcomed the Ukrainian team and said he would be willing to join the fourth mission to Ukraine, which is scheduled for November.

"We are very willing to go there and provide our help again and to pick up where we left off last time," Chen said.