Female surgeon always worries about vulnerable deaf children

Surgery is an important field of medicine, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases by surgical methods. Surgery includes many different specialties. In this field, many physicians and doctors have created their own mark of breakthroughs in science and technology.

In Vietnam, the field of surgery has had a long development process with achievements worth being proud of. Traditionally, surgery often has more male doctors due to historical factors, physical requirements, and work pressure. However, with the change in concept, many female doctors choose this field, and have been achieving success.

Doctor Phi Thi Quynh Anh - Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology (National Children's Hospital) confided that she has performed many surgeries in the field of otorhinolaryngology for pediatric patients. Each surgery is an experience, a valuable experience for her, and the greatest joy after the surgery is the smile on the faces of pediatric patients when their health improves. That is the motivation for her to continue her journey as a pediatric otorhinolaryngologist.

Pediatric patients " understand "

Doctor Phi Thi Quynh Anh said that there were many stories with pediatric patients, but among them, there was a private meeting with a pediatric patient being treated as an inpatient at the ENT Department that she will always remember. That was patient CCK (15 years old in Chieng Sinh, Son La ) with a sad face.

K timidly asked to see the doctor privately. The ethnic boy was born into a poor family with a tumor in his left nasal cavity that pressed on his optic nerve, causing his eyes to bulge and his vision to gradually decrease over time. He told the doctor about his family situation when his older sister unfortunately had a tumor in her abdomen that did not respond to treatment, in the final stage.

CCK patient and mother when coming for treatment at the National Children's Hospital. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

“The 15-year-old boy was very understanding. He probably knew he had a tumor in his nasal cavity when he heard the doctors at the lower level talking to each other, so he cautiously told me: Doctor, I know I have a tumor, but if something happens to me, please don’t tell my mother, I don’t want her to be sad. The 15-year-old ethnic boy’s love for his mother was truly admirable,” Dr. Quynh Anh recalled.

Immediately after that, the doctor and the baby’s mother had a meeting to discuss the baby’s condition. The ethnic mother with a big and thick bun on her head asked very honestly: “Doctor, can my baby be treated? Will he be like his sister?” In the corner of the hospital room, the baby was sitting huddled in one place and must have heard and understood all the questions the mother asked the doctor.

In the near future, a group of experts from the REI organization from the US will come to Vietnam to work at the National Children's Hospital and will invite a consultation to find the most effective intervention and treatment directions for baby K.
Author

CCK had a tumor in the left nasal cavity, the tumor type was osteosarcoma, Dr. Quynh Anh performed surgery on the baby. The treatment for the baby encountered many difficulties, although it was a benign tumor, but because the disease was discovered late, the tumor had invaded the surrounding tissues. This is a very rare disease, surgery is difficult because the tumor is hard as rock, invading difficult-to-reach locations such as the eye socket, skull base, the tumor recurs quickly, can cause loss of vision in one eye, even invading the other eye. The baby has had 2 surgeries to remove the tumor and is continuing to be treated as an outpatient, re-examined, and closely monitored.

The National Children's Hospital is a leading, end-to-end pediatric specialty hospital, with extensive international cooperation programs with many countries and a variety of specialties. For difficult cases, it is possible to consult online or directly with leading experts in developed countries such as the US, France, Japan, etc. Doctor Quynh Anh shared that in the near future, a group of experts from the REI organization from the US will come to Vietnam to work at the National Children's Hospital and will invite a consultation to find the most effective intervention and treatment directions for baby K.

Passion for surgery

When talking about her chance to enter the medical profession, Dr. Quynh Anh confided that since she was a child, she was often sick and had to go to the hospital frequently, her parents had a hard time taking care of her. Since high school, through watching movies, she really liked the image of female doctors, so when she realized her future career direction, she dreamed of becoming a surgeon.

Doctor Quynh Anh consults and performs a surgery. (Photo: Minh Anh/Vietnam+)

“For me, becoming a doctor is a matter of desire, and also of fate. For doctors, in addition to professional qualifications and a spirit of continuous learning, surgeons have a special quality: high determination,” said Dr. Quynh Anh.

With nearly 20 years of experience and having been a resident physician in the field of ENT, Dr. Quynh Anh recalls the time of studying to be a resident physician at the Central ENT Hospital. That was the period of "practical training" that helped her gain the most clinical experience from patients and teachers after graduating. Resident physicians consider the hospital as their home. In the past, hospitals were places where residents were trained and had areas for residents to stay at the hospital, permanently at the hospital, at least until 10 pm.

For doctors, in addition to professional qualifications and a spirit of continuous learning, surgeons have a special trait: high decisiveness.

“My medical course recruited about 500 students, but only about 70 of them passed the exam to continue studying for residency in various specialties. At that time, each specialty only took from 2 to 4 residents. Previously, the quota for residents was related to training facilities, the scale of the training facility, the scale of human resources, the teaching staff as well as the scale of the practice facility, and the policies of the health sector, so the number of residents in each course was small and there were also few facilities to train residents. My course was the 33rd residency course - Hanoi Medical University, with only 4 residents specializing in ENT and the 31st course had only one resident ENT doctor,” the female doctor recalled.

Doctor Quynh Anh instructs resident doctors at the Hospital. (Photo: Thuy Giang/Vietnam+)

Doctor Quynh Anh shared that, for her and many other doctors, graduating from medical school, studying for a residency or a master's degree, and a level 1 specialty are just the starting bricks for a doctor's career. Doctors will have to learn continuously, for life. Science is always developing, diseases are increasingly complex, therefore, doctors need to constantly learn. Resident doctors have high requirements for both theory and clinical practice. It is thanks to those clinical experiences that help young doctors learn a lot. When residents go to departments and rooms to study in the clinic, the relationship between residents and departments and rooms is very special. Experience is accumulated and learned fastest from teachers and previous generations in the hospital. Patients are also the best teachers.

For Dr. Quynh Anh, surgeries can last about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and for complicated surgeries, it can take about 3-4 hours, which is normal.

“However, in surgery, the concept of simple or complex is only relative. Because when facing the patient's life, for me, any surgery we must evaluate comprehensively, be extremely careful and highly focused to achieve the best results and minimize risks for the patient. Any negligence in surgery can cause danger to the patient, we may not have the opportunity to correct those mistakes. Therefore, I always keep in mind how to ensure the safest and most perfect surgery for the patient during the surgery,” Dr. Quynh Anh confided.

Every day at the ENT Department, doctors perform 25-35 surgeries. (Photo: Minh Anh/Vietnam+)

As a tertiary pediatric hospital, doctors at the ENT Department (Central Children's Hospital) perform many surgeries every day, from simple to complex, such as tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, ventilation tube placement, to congenital surgeries such as atrial septal defect, various types of cleft palate, benign and malignant tumors in the ENT area, ear surgeries such as tympanic membrane patching, middle ear plastic surgery, ear flap plastic surgery, sinus surgeries, etc. Currently, the ENT Department is performing nearly 100 procedures and surgeries as approved by the Ministry of Health.

Concerns about vulnerable children

In the field of pediatrics, there are many specific diseases related to the ear, nose, and throat. Currently, the Department of Otorhinolaryngology (National Children's Hospital) has also received in-depth examinations for disadvantaged children - deaf children, children with congenital hearing loss or hearing loss. Doctor Quynh Anh shared that currently, science and technology are very developed, with profoundly deaf children, if detected and intervened early, they can have a normal life so that they can integrate into the community and go to school as usual, instead of becoming a disabled child.

The ENT Department receives in-depth examinations for many vulnerable children - the group of children with hearing impairments. (Photo: Minh Anh/Vietnam+)

Doctors perform both surgical interventions to restore hearing function for children and speech therapy interventions to help them reintegrate into society. This is a very strict process that requires close cooperation between the hospital, family and society. This process lasts from 5 to 10 years depending on the medical condition of each child.

Nowadays, science and technology are very developed. If profoundly deaf children are detected and intervened early, they will be able to integrate into the community, instead of becoming disabled.

The hospital also coordinates with the Department of Population (Ministry of Health) to implement a congenital screening program, conduct hearing screening and assessment for newborns with the aim of early detection and early intervention. Thereby ensuring the rights of babies, minimizing the risk that when babies are not detected or detected late for hearing loss, they can completely develop into a disabled child, a child with congenital deafness.

Dr. Quynh Anh said that every day she comes into contact with pediatric patients with many different circumstances. What she worries about is that complicated cases often come from difficult circumstances. Children with congenital hearing loss often need cochlear implants, but the cost of the device is very expensive, most of which are beyond the family's ability to pay.

In the case of CCK, the family is in very difficult circumstances, the treatment costs are covered by health insurance, but the cost of travel and accommodation every time a follow-up examination is needed is also a big problem for the family. Thanks to the sponsors who sponsor these costs, K. can go to regular check-ups according to the appointment schedule. In addition, there are many children who, although young, love their parents very much, think of them, and encourage them to overcome their illness together. As a doctor specializing in examining pediatric patients, at those times, my heart calms down, I just think about how to help all the children overcome their illness and return to their daily lives./.