The Department of Internal Medicine – The Department of Infectious Diseases
A brief overview of the department
The Department of Infectious Diseases provides outpatient and inpatient care to patients from the age of 3 who suffer from or are suspected of having infectious diseases. We also treat adult patients with diarrheal diseases and meningitis that do not require the support of basic life functions.
Every year we hospitalize more than 600 patients. Last year, we performed 16 lumbar punctures.
Our department cooperates closely with the Cardiovascular Surgery Specialized Center in surgical treatment of infectious endocarditis, such as in the treatment of drug addicts. The possibilities for cooperation in our hospital are astonishing, and we regularly cooperate with the Spinal Surgery Specialized Center, the Pulmonology Specialized Center, and others.
How will your detailed schedule look like? What type of procedures, methods or treatment can you observe? Check what can you see by shadowing every member of the mentoring team.
Is this specialty placement ideal for you?
- Our workplace is one of its kind in the Czech Republic, we treat a wide rage of infectious diseases including Lyme disease. Our focus is also on treating patients who have substance abuse problems, and who go repeatedly through a very difficult period of their lives, too. We recommend this placement to students, who are interested in internal medicine and non-surgical specialties. Following the instructions of our mentor, Grigorij is necessary.
- This specialty is suitable for you if you aspire to become a doctor. It is a very intense placement as we allow only one student at a time for the shadowing experience. You have the full attention of our mentor, who has a lot of international experience from Kenya and Sudan and together, you can discuss the potential and future of this specialty. Infectious Diseases Division is a unique workplace - there is so much to learn and explore.
Let's take a closer look at the specialties…
Our department comprehensively treats patients with infectious diseases. Infectious diseases are caused by germs and kill more people worldwide than any other single cause. Diseases can be spread in many different ways: they can be passed from person to person, transmitted by bites from insects or animals, and in some cases can be acquired by ingesting contaminated food or water or being exposed to certain organisms in the environment. The signs and symptoms can vary depending on the organism causing the infection but often include fever and fatigue.
Our department includes specialized outpatient facilities for:
- Liver Infection Treatment
- Travel Medicine
- Drug Addiction Treatment
In our Drug Addiction Treatment Center, we provide psychological and psychiatric care to patients who are addicted to drugs. We do our best to motivate them in their further treatment. Necessary psychiatric care for drug patients is ensured by addictology centers outside the University Hospital in Motol. Patients who are not infected with hepatitis B are given free hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccination, and we provide methadone substitution therapy when necessary.
Our department has at its disposal 24 beds, suitable for standard and intermediate care, including one isolation pod. Our department is built as a modular system in which each module contains one double-bed and one single-bed room. Every room is equipped with its own sanitary facilities, a TV set, and a telephone that allows patients to communicate with their nurses.
Who do we take care of?
We treat the whole range of infectious diseases in adults and children from the age of three. We care for patients suffering from febrile disorders, diarrhea, meningitis, brain disease, exanthematous infectious diseases, and Lyme disease and neuroborreliosis. Furthermore, we tend to patients with feverish conditions, acute infections of the respiratory tract, and acute infectious hepatitis, and we specialize in the differential diagnosis of liver diseases. Last but not least, we care for patients diagnosed with imported infections and zoonoses.
In the Drug Addiction Treatment Center, we treat both inpatients and outpatients who are addicted to abused substances and provide free hepatitis A and B vaccinations with the help of the Czech Ministry of Health. Our patients often suffer from soft tissue infections, deep vein thrombosis, chronic viral hepatitis, or inflammation of the heart valves.
In addition, we provide counseling in many areas: infestations, imported infections, herpes infections, and Lyme disease. We also offer counseling for children with hepatitis C positive mothers.
Our methods and procedures
Our skilled team regularly uses the following methods and procedures:
- Lumbar punctures
- As of 2012, we provide therapy for chronic hepatitis C using new drugs in triple combination with ribavirin and pegylated interferon.
- Insertion of urinary catheters for men
- Insertion of central venous catheters
- Administration of transfusions
- Wound treatment
How does the usual schedule look like?
- Our mentoring team mostly works on a regular schedule, although they occasionally have to stay on call after their shifts. Because we only have one mentor in this specialized center, access to this placement will be slightly limited for one student at a time.
If you are not sure whether this choice is suitable for you, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will discuss your experience and motivation and come up with the best solution for you.
