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From cross-border consultations and surgeries to each struggle with death to save the lives of patients in foreign lands... it is not only a responsibility to dedicate oneself to treating and saving people, but also a journey to affirm the talent and medical ethics of the Vietnamese medical sector.
"Exporting" surgical skills
Philippines, one day in late February 2023, Dr. Nguyen Phu Huu, Deputy Head of the Department of Digestive Surgery at Binh Dan Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), took on the role of head of a robotic surgery team to save the life of a Filipino patient with cancer. It was a very difficult case that required the "support" of the most skilled doctors from his country's colleagues.
The patient was a middle-aged woman with rectal cancer who had just undergone colostomy and chemotherapy. She needed robotic surgery to remove the tumor. The surgery and chemotherapy had been completed less than 3 months ago, and examinations showed that the intestinal wall was loose and easily torn, along with a lot of inflammation and adhesions in the abdomen.
Doctors at the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (Philippines) assessed this as a difficult case with potential risks and they had not yet mastered robotic surgery techniques. They decided to “call for help” from experienced Vietnamese experts.
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Doctor Nguyen Phu Huu (3rd from left) and colleagues Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (Philippines) |
Upon receiving the news, Binh Dan Hospital sent Dr. Nguyen Phu Huu, who has clinical experience with more than 270 robotic surgeries, abroad to support his colleagues. After many hours of smooth coordination with the local team of doctors, the person in charge of the surgical team from Vietnam successfully performed the surgery. The foreign doctors who witnessed the surgery shared that they were impressed with Dr. Nguyen Phu Huu's robotic surgery technique.
During his short 5-day stay in the host country, Dr. Huu also shared his clinical experience in robotic surgery techniques with hundreds of other Filipino doctors. For the doctors here, the gratitude is not only for the timely support for a difficult surgery, but also for the greater thing that the Vietnamese doctor brought, which is the useful sharing of practical experience.
For the past few years, Dr. Nguyen Phu Huu has been invited to “go abroad” many times to guide robotic surgery for hospitals in other countries. These trips are meant to guide, transfer, and affirm the domestic medical sector’s mastery of medical examination and treatment technology.
“Family members” of Phnom Penh patients
In the capital Phnom Penh (Cambodia), for nearly 20 years, there have been Vietnamese medical staff who have been called "family" by Cambodian people because they diligently care for and treat the people here day and night.
Vietnamese doctors working at Cho Ray Hospital in Phnom Penh use their dedication and diligence to convince local people to put their trust in the skills of Vietnamese doctors.
“We come here to be treated by Vietnamese doctors, we only trust the expertise of Vietnamese doctors”, is the catchphrase of Cambodian patients when they come to the hospital to entrust their health.
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Vietnamese doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in Phnom Penh are performing endoscopy on Cambodian patients. |
Since 2014, each year, 400-500 doctors and experts have been sent by Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City to provide professional support. In Cambodia, many advanced techniques have been deployed and transferred for the first time by Vietnamese medical staff.
For Dr. Tran Thanh Tung, Head of Hematology Department, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, nearly 3 years working at Cho Ray Hospital Phnom Penh is an unforgettable time.
Recalling the first days in the host country, he and his colleagues faced many difficulties due to language and cultural differences, homesickness, and incompatible food and drink... But everyone gradually overcame the difficulties and adapted to do more important work: treating illnesses and saving people.
In Dr. Tran Thanh Tung’s impression, Cambodian people are extremely gentle and kind. Occasionally, they receive gifts of home-grown vegetables from the people to thank the doctor for saving the lives of their loved ones.
Although not “based” in Cambodia, many doctors and nurses of Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City have contributed to the health care of the people of the neighboring country. These include cross-border consultations, and the times they rushed to Cambodia in the middle of the night on an express bus to perform surgery on patients waiting on the other side of the border…
Dr. Ton Thanh Tra has been assigned the important responsibility of being "seconded" in Cambodia for more than 4 years. During the most intense period of the Covid-19 pandemic, he and his colleagues remained in the neighboring country as frontline workers. At that time, Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital was chosen by the Cambodian Government as the place to admit and treat Covid-19 patients. "Although it may affect our health and lives, we will not abandon our mission," the doctor who has held the position of General Director of Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital for the longest time affirmed.
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