At the therapeutic department

George and his fellow student Nick, who had recently recovered from his illness, came to the therapeutic "depart­ment of the clinic in Svoboda street to attend the first class­es in Therapy.

During the Jlrst classes the students acquainted them­selves with the work of the reception ward. There a nurse on duty was receiving those patients who had to be hospital­ized. They had already received the direction from the poly-clinic. The nurse on duty was filling in patients' case his­tories. There she was recording the following data ^l: their name, age, place of employment, occupation, address and the initial diagnosis made by a district doctor.

That day the first patient admitted to the in-patient de­partment was Comrade Belov. He was a railway worker, 52 years of age. with, a bad h,eart attack. The onset of the dis­ease had been .tiidfcfl, and severe. He had already been con­fined to bed for three days. He was very pale and weak. It was clear that he was suffering from some serious heart im­pairment.

The students saw how the patient was undressed and laid down on a stretcher. The students also saw other patients with different diseases of inner organs. The doctor on duty examined them and gave his instructions to which wards the patients had to be directed. .

The students and the assistant doctor went to the En-patient department after their work in the reception ward. Here they acquianted themselves with the daily regime ^a of the clinic. They were shown the wards, the X-ray rooms, the laboratories and the special room for carrying on differ­ent medical procedures.

They could see the work of the nurses on duty, who were •taking the patients' temperature, giving them injections, cupping them, applying mustard plasters, and giving med­icines.

The same day the students acquianted themselves with the main rules of carrying on a physical examination and , making a family history by questioning a patient thoroughly.¹

In the next class the students learned the methods of ..examining a patient. Those methods were: questioning a pa-:tient, external examination, percussion, auscultation, pal-Ration, taking blood pressure, laboratory examinations, tak-electrocardiograms, etc.