Professional Training for Medical Clowns

Doctors Red Nose is a highly professional and demanding performance profession. Performances in hospitals are not standardized programs: there is no predetermined script, and they cannot be rehearsed in advance. Doctors Red Nose performances focus on building supportive relationships and dialogue with people in hospitals. To achieve this, performers must undergo rigorous training and pass multiple levels of assessment.

Our Doctors Red Nose performers must all be professional performers, and before going on the job they must receive at least 6–9 months of training and internships. This includes courses in performing arts, medical health education, and psychological development, as well as hospital observation and internship performances. Arts courses include music, mask work, and physical movement, enabling performers to establish a solid foundation and learn to apply various clowning techniques. They learn to control the rhythm of a performance through breathing, facial expressions, movement, and language; to respond spontaneously in the moment; and to create a relaxed and humorous atmosphere within a serious medical environment.

Everyone has a different personality, medical condition, and preference. Providing tailor-made performances for people of different age groups requires more than arts training. Doctors Red Nose performers must also possess basic knowledge needed to work in hospitals, such as basic health education, understanding of diseases, medical ethics, and developmental psychology for children and adolescents. Medical theory courses focus on training performers in professional service skills, ensuring that they do not interfere with medical procedures during the process. They also help performers better understand themselves and learn to transition between fully engaging during a performance and detaching afterward, as well as how to adjust emotionally after someone they accompanied passes away. Performers must learn how to process and care for themselves in response to the stress and grief they may experience.

In addition to classroom learning, performers visit hospitals where performances are currently being held to observe Doctors Red Nose performers in action and participate in internship performances alongside experienced performers. They gain hands-on experience and firsthand understanding in the service setting. Throughout the process, instructors or coaches observe, document, and evaluate their performance, providing feedback and suggestions based on what they observe and using these evaluations as the basis for assessment at the end of the internship.

　　Improvisation is challenging in itself, and performing in hospital wards filled with medical equipment and subject to sudden events requires even greater skill. Therefore, Doctors Red Nose performers must continually refine their performance techniques, maintain a certain level of understanding of the conditions and treatment processes of those they perform for, and remain focused at all times. With keen observation, they carefully manage interactions and provide the support most appropriate for the needs of patients, families, and healthcare teams.

　　The ongoing training for Doctors Red Nose performers primarily consists of monthly regular group training and annual intensive training. Regular group training includes discussions and courses. Led by senior instructors, performers discuss their performance situations and challenges in hospitals. Courses are arranged according to performers’ needs and are taught by professional instructors in fields including performance, psychology, and medicine. These courses help performers learn new knowledge, deepen their foundation, and strengthen their rapport when working with fellow clowns.

In 2022, Doctors Red Nose’s annual intensive training invited senior French medical clowns Bernie Collins and Lory Leshin to teach.

　　Compared with the long-established development of Clown Care overseas, the experience and professional sophistication of performances tailored to people of different ages and backgrounds are both worthy of reference and study. Therefore, for the annual intensive training, the association plans each year to invite senior medical clown instructors from Taiwan and abroad to provide intensive training on different topics, such as infants and young children, adolescents, and older adults. This strengthens performance abilities and psychological resilience, deepens professional competencies, and, through mutual exchange and learning, establishes a medical clown performance and service system better suited to Taiwan’s needs.

To maintain service quality and professionalism, all Doctors Red Nose performances in hospitals follow a carefully planned process and must undergo assessment and evaluation every six months. Before the evaluation, performers must first conduct a self-assessment of their current condition. After observation, guidance, and evaluation by the association’s senior coaching team, only performers who pass the comprehensive assessment may continue performing in hospitals.

Of course, people who help others also need emotional recharging. Because they serve in hospitals over the long term, performers not only bear many negative emotions but may also experience loss and grief through separations. In addition to submitting a feedback report every quarter, performers reflect on their experiences and stories and become aware of their inner psychological states through writing, images, or other forms of art. The association provides regular psychological counseling to help performers face their emotions and maintain physical and mental balance.