My doctor's going loopy
Last Update: Monday, March 10, 2008. 4:56pm
ACST
By Fiona Churchman
It's no fun for kids, or their parents, being sick, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have the odd laugh as they try to get better.
At least, that's the view of Dr Peter Spitzer, who 11 years ago become Australia's first clown doctor when he established the Humour Foundation.
The charity is dedicated to promoting the health benefits of humour, with 55 clown doctors working in 18 hospitals.
Dr Spitzer, also known as Dr Fruit Loop, can be found wandering hospital corridors around the country dressed in a funny hat carrying a big bag of magic tricks, determined to make sick children smile.
He's been visiting the Royal Darwin Hospital this week, spending time with kids in the wards and at the school room.
"I think we all need doses of laughter from time to time, and especially in the hospital setting.
"You know what it's like for children when they're not feeling well and they're parents are reacting, sometimes the parents need our attention, not only that but the staff do as well," he says.
In the hospital schoolroom, ten sets of eyes are fixed on Dr Spitzer as he gives them a red nose transplant or a cat scan, involving a stuffed moggy sitting on top of their heads.
He's the only general practitioner involved in the program, with the rest of the clown doctors professional performers selected for their skills as well as their qualities, such as sensitivity.
"We train the performer to work in critical care areas ... it takes a special kind of heart and special kind of personality to take their skills and make them present in the wards," he says.
"Sometimes getting the attention and getting the look is more than enough ... sometimes getting the eye fixed and getting the attentive look shifts the child from pain into wonderment.
"They don't have to physically laugh, or to be laughing for us to get a good, positive response," says Dr Spitzer.
Dr Spitzer says they are present in the hospital environment for up to four days a week, with the biggest complaint, "Why aren't you here more often?".
He says the clown doctors are like the court jester of the modern age.
And with that he has to go and entertain the youngsters sitting quietly, hoping for more laughs to distract them from why they are in hospital.
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