At an event organised by the Medical School in cooperation with the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia on 9 December, Reut Tsoref, a clown therapist from Israel, presented ‘Holy Medical Trinity – Doctor, Clown, Patient’, an insight on how medical clowns can be effective in a paediatric hospital setting.

Reut is part of the Dream Doctors Project, which began in 2002 at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and involves the integration of medical clowning into the hospital healthcare system as a way to improve patient well-being and advance care.  This privately supported program currently oversees 110 trained medical clowns at 29 hospitals across Israel.

Reut in action with a volunteer from the audience

All Dream Doctors have a rich background in the dramatic arts (acting, street theatre, physical clowning, and more) and undergo training to be able to work in hospitals (more about dream doctors here).

The Ambassador of Israel (middle), part of the audience