The company’s network continues to grow. Clinical Manager Ph.D. MD Tetiana Kovtiukh focuses on creating international connections with key opinion leaders, both through conferences and clinical visits. Recently, Dr. Tetiana visited two Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Poland, and we have done a shorter interview with her to find out more.
An important part of the company’s work is to build a clinical network of key opinion leaders to prepare for market launch and sales of the medical device, Neola®. Clinical Manager, Ph.D. MD Tetiana Kovtiukh has a central role in this work. Dr. Tetiana attends conferences and congresses, both national and international, to create connections with key opinion leaders within the field. Furthermore, our Clinical Manager recently got the opportunity to visit two NICUs in Poland, to create a better understanding of their work and the challenges they face. We have done a shorter interview to summarize these visits.
Could you tell a bit more about the clinics you visited most recently?
In November I visited two hospitals in Poland. The first, Kliniczny Szpital Wojewodzki Nr 1 im. Fryderyka Chopina, was in Rzeszow and had a III-level NICU. At this clinic they care for all babies born too soon in this region. The second hospital was Klinika Noworodkow z Intensywna Opieka Medyczna Szopena, with an II-level NICU. Here they manage preterm newborns that are born from 32 week of pregnancy (gestational age).
How did you get in contact with the clinics?
Professional connections have always been important in this field, and therefore I have contacts with my old colleagues, both from the university and from previous jobs. We keep in contact to help each other in various situations, such as giving advice on difficult clinical questions. The invitations to these two NICUs I got thanks to my old connections from university, who now work in these two hospitals in Poland. This kind of connections is therefore of utmost importance when building the clinical network.
Was there anything in particular that you take with you from the visits?
During my visits to the NICUs in Poland I noticed that the clinical equipment is advanced and very similar to the equipment utilized in Sweden. The differences therefore seemed to be rather limited and only related to the possibility for parents to stay with the baby in the NICU. In Poland, parents could only be present with the baby during the day. In this way mothers can feed their babies and perform kangaroo care or any other caring procedures, such as the hygienic care. In Sweden on the other hand, for example in the NICU of Drottning Silvias Barnsjukhus (Queen Sylvia Children’s Hospital), parents have the possibility to always stay with their babies, which is considered very important for the baby’s development.
Overall, any meeting with clinicians is very important in my work, as clinicians can help us at Neola Medical better understand the real clinical need. By connecting with clinicians at NICUs we can get more insights into how our medical device Neola® can help close some of the clinical needs. Additionally, this type of clinical visit opens for shared experiences where scientist can share their expertise from the field of research that they perform.
Also read about Dr. Tetiana’s visit to UENPS congress 2022 in Poland