8th-grade patients take end-of-year exams at Bambino Gesù

In order to prevent student-patients from being held back a year, the Pope's Hospital has offered educational services for nearly 50 years.

Some of the young patients at Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, also called the Pope’s Hospital, recently took a break from medical testing to take the necessary tests for the end of the school year. The hospital reported that they held testing for 10 eighth-grade students at two different locations.

While Bambino Gesù is a place of healing, the hospital recognizes that illness is not the only pitfall for children who have to spend extended time in a sickbed. It’s always the goal for children to beat their illness and return to their normal lives, but missing so much school can lead to being held back a year and this can take a psychological toll on the kids.

Bambino Gesù has recognized this fact for nearly 50 years, and it led the hospital to start offering such school exams back in the 1975-1976 school year. Today the program is run in four locations – the offices of Gianicolo, Palidoro, Passoscuro, and Santa Marinella – offering the service to children from primary school right through high school. The whole arrangement is made possible thanks to some 72 Italian teachers who serve as tutors and proctor the exams.

Lucia Celesti, one of the head doctors of Bambino Gesù, explained that the hospital’s scholastic offerings are an integral part of the treatment of their child patients:

“The routine of access to the lessons and the interaction with the teachers strengthens the will to heal and consolidates the psycho-physical balance. It is very important to ensure the children have continuity in their studies which allows them, when they leave hospital, not to lose their bond with their classmates.”

Bedside teachers

The hospital explained in a press release that much of the work of the teachers is done at the bedside of their student-patients, while children who are well enough can meet for lessons in small groups. Teachers coordinate their lessons with each student’s school in order to create a personalized path to catch up on all they had missed.

Those children and young people who are in long-term care require a little more attention. With these students, such as the eighth graders who recently took their exams, more regular evaluation procedures – such as checks and tests – are carried out. It is estimated that 4,000 students were served by the educational efforts of Bambino Gesù in the 2023-2024 school year.