Dr Klown is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to provide clown doctor services at Mater Dei Hospital (Malta).

In 2010, a group of people with a similar goal came together and transformed a dream into reality by setting up Dr Klown.

The team set-out a rigorous training programme for aspiring clown doctors together with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals. What started off as a pilot project in 2010 has evolved into a professional NGO that prides itself in delivering humour.

Popularised by the film Patch Adams, clown doctors dose their patients with fun and laughter! Hospital can be scary, confusing or just plain boring for kids. This is where clown doctors can help.
Clown doctors are not doctors but volunteers from every walk of life that are artistically and psychologically trained to entertain children in hospital. For clown doctors, it is the person that matters, not the illness. Even when kids are very sick they are still kids and clown doctors can help them forget they are sick for a moment. Just a smile is enough for the clown doctors to know that they have helped.

Clown doctors visit children in their beds, or stay with them while they are having treatment. They ‘play with the moment’ and improvise around each child’s situation and interests. Kids are encouraged to join in. Sometimes they just feel like watching. Families and staff are included in the fun.

The healing power of humour has been recognized since antiquity. Everyone knows that ´laughter is the best medicine´, but international research has found real physiological and psychological benefits to patients.