Youth Day at the hospital

Ready for a career in hospital: 700 schoolchildren as guests

How to stitch a wound properly.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

A day like in the doctor series "Grey's Anatomy": 700 pupils came to Salzburg University Hospital. They were able to test their talent for various hospital jobs at several stations. 

Hands up, then the coat that is far too big is buttoned up: Fynn (13) from the Goldenstein private secondary school in Elsbethen gets to feel like a doctor from the series "Grey's Anatomy" for a few minutes. He puts the drill to work and immediately drills through the show bone. "It's really interesting," enthuses the talented young surgeon. Several of his classmates listen intently: "I'd be afraid of hurting patients," says one girl, who has a lot of respect for the hospital job.

At the dissection table: the students listened attentively.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

Hospital wants to counteract staff shortages
More than 700 pupils from all over Salzburg and neighboring Upper Austria made a pilgrimage to Salzburg University Hospital on Friday when the doors opened to interested young people. The aim was not only to slip into a doctor's coat or nursing uniform, but also to introduce other professions such as occupational therapists, dieticians, autopsy assistants and orthoptists. The main aim of the information day, where young people can also lend a hand, is to arouse interest and thus counteract the increasing staff shortage in hospitals.

At stations such as the dissection table in pathology, it was a rare opportunity to ask questions. Real specimens ranging from human hearts to tumors were on display. "For example, they ask how arteriosclerosis develops," explains assistant doctor Johannes Lettner, holding a heart specimen. Another youngster wanted to understand the difference between his grandmother's mechanical heart valve and a real one.