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When we talk about Paediatrics, everyone at the Faculty of Medicine knows Paula. Paula from Paediatrics. We went to meet her and find out why we associate the department with her name.
Paula Belmonte, who has been working at the Faculty for 22 years and for 21 in Paediatrics, welcomed us to the Multipurpose Room. An open space, full of light and with a cosy atmosphere, several pouffes and a table in the middle; "a room that is used for absolutely everything", she tells us, and indeed it looks like a small kindergarten room. We are on the 6th floor of the HSM in the Paediatrics department!
"One day, after a year at the FMUL, Dr. Isabel Aguiar called me at home and asked me if I wanted to take up an administrative position at a clinic. As I had completed my secondary education, I thought I should accept the proposal. I talked to Dr. Helena Calado, the then Secretary of the Faculty, who invited me to work in Paediatrics. I obviously said yes!" And that's how it all began. She came in the following day. She started from scratch, dealing with papers and documents, and learned, with the help of her hospital colleagues, all she had to know about working at the university clinic and more.
At the time, she organised three of the Clinic's subjects, their syllabi, the necessary contacts, the grades of two semesters and the contact between students and professors. A few years later, Professor Teresa Bandeira issued her a challenge - "to get the Paediatrics Library up and running". She completed a training course on Libraries and accepted one more responsibility. In the meantime, a new employee came in - Pedro Mendes, and they took up more duties, particularly the ones that were more directly related to the Department and not just to the university clinic. And that's why there are such close ties with the hospital. Currently, she is responsible for most of the training courses offered by the Paediatrics Department, not only to Integrated Master's degree students, but also to Interns.
When we ask her about a person who left a mark on her, she says "there are many, not just one". As soon as she started working with Professor João Gomes Pedro, she says she learned a lot from him. She drew many lessons from a professional relationship that was, sometimes, difficult, because they worked together for many years and the Professor taught her the motto that struck her and made her the professional she is today: "I don't want you to bring me problems, I want you to bring me solutions. Because everyone here is important, each person is important. The difference is that if I, as a physician, make a mistake, I can kill a patient, but if you, as an administrative, make a mistake, you can also help me kill them." "This put a lot of responsibility on me and I immediately realised that this was how we had to work - thinking about the problems but finding solutions." She also tells us, with a big smile on her face, "that was the beginning of the end for me, because, from then on, when I'm faced with a difficult situation, or when a professor is missing, when someone tells me they are not available, I never see a problem, I try to find a solution. It's the only way I know how to work." She learned, she grew, and today she has many responsibilities that lead her to wonder "should I be doing this?" Professor Maria do Céu Machado also acknowledges her work and dedication, and it's no coincidence that she introduces her as "the most important person in the department". Despite the fear of sounding pretentious, Paula Belmonte explains that she got used to reporting issues to her superiors only when they're serious - "they only have to deal with them if they're serious, otherwise I don't bring them problems." That's the way it is, and the only way she knows how to be! Used to working alone, independently, one of her "flaws" has to do with control. She confesses that even at home she likes to control everything, that is her philosophy, at work and with her family.
Another person who left a mark on her was Professor Paulo Ramalho; she speaks proudly of him, "he was a very down-to-earth person, very connected to the care area, to patients. His personality was always a great encouragement for me, professionally speaking, and he was one of the directors who touched me the most." In addition to Professors, Paula confesses that interns also left an impression on her. "They all know who Paula is, and even after they leave to work in other hospitals, they call us and ask to speak with me. All this touches us. There is a paediatrician, Dr. Cristina Camilo, who was in her 6th year of studies when I was in my first year of service, and today she teaches at the faculty, she is a very experienced doctor and a great friend!"
"Nowadays, working with the Coordinators is also a challenge, they are very different people, forcing me to constantly adapt, but offering me a very enriching professional experience", she says.
In an age when everything changes at an amazing pace, we asked her how she sees paediatricians these days, how students have evolved over the last 20 years. She confesses that there are many differences. "The systems forced students to change. For example, I became very close to the first students I knew and some of them are still my friends. Students now are more distant, they're different! There is a lot of competition and they are forced to distance themselves from the people with whom they deal every day. Of course there are exceptions, but the system creates a distance between people and, unfortunately, this is felt in the services, the academic area and the hospital area."
When she entered Paediatrics, her daughter was one year old. The answer she gave us when we asked her how a mother with a one-year-old baby learns to deal with the reality of a paediatric hospital unit, she confesses that it was "extremely difficult! Because Inês was also hospitalised in Paediatric Pulmonology for some time, and that's when I met Professor Teresa Bandeira. I had a very hard time dealing with some situations, first of all because my daughter was very young, and then because we have no idea that certain things happen, and we are faced with a reality that we had ignored until that point. But I'm glad Inês had already been born, because if I had to go through a pregnancy while working here, it would have been much more complicated. I wouldn't be able to cross the 6th floor, where paediatric Oncology and Neurology was. Those areas are very difficult to deal with. It took me a long time to be able to cross that service, it took me years! It eventually becomes natural for us, we get used to it. Initially we have absolutely no idea that children could be so sick! And when we become parents we think a lot about that, because things happen very suddenly, everything changes and in these services we deal with children who also used to be healthy!"
We inevitably create bonds and we suffer if things go wrong; "some children spend months with us and, sometimes, the outcome is not what we'd expected and that's still very disturbing to me, because I know the child, I know the parents. That's still the hard part. But, over the years, I've gained resistance, resilience; I had to, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to continue working here! "
Paediatrics is made of losses, but also of some successes; she recalls the case of a boy from a Portuguese-speaking country, "a very complicated case, because he needed a bone marrow transplant. This boy had to wait a long time, he was very sick, but he eventually got the transplant and everything went well. He's a man now, he's is in Angola. I often talk to his mother on facebook and I know he's fine now. These cases fill our hearts! It's great! Then there are those who touch us because we spend a lot of time with them and they end up leaving! Children spend so much time here that we end up being part of their family and they are also part of ours! But we have to think about the happy endings, about the children who grow up, even with limitations, we see them grow up and develop and that's fantastic! There is another case of a boy with haemophilia, he was very sick many times, but he recovered and now he comes here often and he's full of life, very grown up, and that's just great! These are the ones we think about and help us move forward! Paediatrics is very tough, because when things go wrong, it's really bad, but when things go well, it's great!
We asked her if she thinks that Paediatricians are special doctors, and she immediately answered: "yes! They're very special! They're heroes! Unfortunately I had contact with adult Medicine, because my parents were hospitalised, so I really do think that Paediatricians are special. A physician who takes care of adults sees the person and the illness and does not create bonds. A Paediatrician creates bonds with the patients and with their families. So, I think they suffer more but they also gain resilience more quickly. Because there are many chronically ill patients in our service, our paediatricians have patients for life, they see their patients grow up when things go well. Quite often, when they are adults, they visit us and we're able to maintain relationships that last forever."
In addition to physicians, the Paediatrics department has many other professionals who are the guardian angels of the children who end up getting there - nurses, social workers, nursery school teachers, dieticians, psychologists, teachers -"we are a family", she says, "although I'm part of the Faculty, we work as a whole. My library has decorations made by nursery school teachers. The department starts in my library and goes in there... When I talk about Paediatrics, I talk about my department and this is a sign that we are a whole and we can only work like this. "
When we ask her if she sees herself working somewhere else, she clearly answers: "No! Although sometimes I feel a bit more tired, or when I'm drained and I think "I do everything around here", I say I have to change jobs. But I don't see myself doing it; I could work somewhere else, but I wouldn't be so happy! I have a very strong connection to this service, to the people who work here, these are my people. The fact that I also deal with postgraduate training helps me to escape from the daily routine. There is a different engagement. For example, there is a course going on at the moment and I'm responsible for everything related to it - registrations, reception, confirmation, payments, programs, liaising with the lecturers, even the coffee break! This stimulates me, because I get to do different things and interact with people. I love people! My library is totally unconventional. There we have meetings, work sessions, classes, appointments, talks, everything! The students come to me, they talk and study there, but they know it's not a quiet space! I can't spend my days inside an office. I love what I do and I love this place!"
We talked for an hour and time flew by, as usual. Anyone who talks to Paula from Paediatrics feels that she is so happy that even the reality that surrounds her becomes more pleasant when she smiles.
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Ana Raquel Moreira
Editorial Team
