July 31, 2010

Viet Nam Medical Assistance Program

2010 Medical Mission Trip
Newsletter

Introduction
Through the trip, each medical
student, PA student and interpreter tried
Content his/her best to provide the best medical
Daily activities ….p 1-2 care for the patients. At each site, the
medical students did a thorough physi-
Mission highlight ….p 3 cal examination and addressed con-
Mission in pictures and cerns the patients have. In analyzing
the patients’ diagnosis, the most com-
Acknowledgement ...p 4 mon illnesses were headaches, arthritis,
hypertension, GERD, osteoporosis, and
musculoskeletal problems.
T he medical mission trip this year During our stay at Tien Giang
to Vinh Long and Tien Giang and Vinh Long , we witnessed amazing
provinces consisted of three medi- sceneries, did a lot of fun activities and
ate delicious foods.
A Message cal students, one physician assis-
tant, five interpreters and two phy- At the end of the trip when we
From sicians. Upon our arrival in Viet all reflected on the mission, we all felt
the trip was a great experience not only
VNMAP Nam, we also had 3 Viet Namese
physicians, 2 nurses and 2 pharma- to learn from other members in the
We are delighted to cists who assisted in our mission. group, but also to explore the different
announce that VNMAP Between June 13 to June 29, the aspects of Viet Nam. However, the trip
has had another success- team visited 9 sites and treated could not be possible without the help
ful year! With the 2010 1910 patients. of the donors, Vietnamese volunteers,
medical mission trip physicians, volunteers and medical stu-
completed, we would dents.
like to share with you
some memories from Daily Activities: June 13-June 29
our two weeks in Viet June 13. The first day of our mission trip. We had
Nam. We hope that the our first team dinner at Liem Phuong Hotel and offi-
information detailed in cially got to meet the team members of the trip. Af-
this newsletter will cap- ter our dinner, we spent two hours packaging medi-
ture the moments and cines for the clinic.
memories that we will
never forget. June 14 . At 6:30 a.m we began packing medical supplies into the bus and
headed to Vinh Long. On our way, we stopped at a restaurant with beautiful
landscaping and had our lunch.
 Daily activities cont.
June 15. Our first site was at Xa Thoi Hoa. At this site
we saw 230 patients, who were mainly poor elderly
women. Most of the patients’ complaints were primar-
ily headaches, back pain and gastrointestinal problems.
June 16. Xa Nhon Binh was our next site and at this
site we saw 220 patients.
June 17. Our third site was Xuan Hiep. At this site we
saw 220 patients. We encountered one interesting case
of basal cell carcinoma, which provided a great learn-
ing experience for the medical students as well as for
the interpreters.
June 18. Our last site in Vinh Long was in Xa Hoa
Binh. At this site we saw 210 people.
June 19. On our first break day we went to an island
called Vinh Sang. There we toured the fruits garden.
We did many fun activities such as riding ostriches, ate
a delicious lunch and then headed to Tien Giang prov-
ince.
June 20. Our first day in Tien Giang, we saw 215 pa-
tients at Xa Tan Thuan Binh. We had many cases simi-
lar to those at Vinh Long. The patients were elderly
women who were farmers and had back pain and joint
pain.
June 21. We visited Xa Tan Binh Thanh and saw 210
patients .
June 22. At Xa Trung Hoa-Huyen Chau Thanh we saw
210 patients. We had a case of gout, a disease caused
by the accumulation of uric acid. The patient case was
a little severe which we could not treat so we recom-
mended him to a specialist.
Page 2
June 23. Our second break day. On this day
we visited 2 islands called Dao Con Lon and
Dao con Phuong in Tien Giang. On the island
we drank honey tea and did many other activi-
ties..
June 24 We visited Xa Tam Hiep and saw 210
patients. Today we got to diagnose a large
number of
children.
June 25. Our last day working was at Xa Tan
Ly Dong , where we saw 190 patients. We did-
n’t have as many patients as we had hoped for.
June 26. The team headed back to Saigon. On
our way back we stopped by New Village
Clinic, a private clinic to care for the poor in
Go Vap District. At the clinic, Dr. Phan, the
head physician, gave a description of the clinic
and took us on a tour of the clinic.
June 27. We visited Bung Sang Organization,
which is a home for the blind and an orphan-
age in charge by Father Hoang Van Binh .
During our visit, we gave out goodies and
toothbrushes and got to know the children.
June 28. We visited the nursing home in Cu
Chi and Thien Phuoc, a home for disabled chil-
dren. They were very happy to see us there.
June 29. In the morning we visited Tam Duc
Hospital and were given a tour of the place. At
night we all gathered together and ate our last
dinner together before the team was dismissed.
 Page 3
Mission Highlights

Providing Health Care

On this trip, despite the lack of technologies, each medical /PA student and interpreter
Many patients were worked collaboratively to provide the best care for the patients.
taken care of! The At every clinic, the medical students and physician assistants had
group members have a chance to coordinate the setting for each site so that all the pa-
a good relationship! tients could be seen in a timely manner. After being triaged, pa-
I hope to participate
tients are seen by one of the medical/ PA students, and based on
the diagnosis, prescriptions are given. Each prescription is re-
in VNMAP’s mission
viewed by the physician, who confirms it or makes further recommendations for treat-
team in many years ment. At each clinic, we saw acute as well as chronic condi-
after. tions. For the chronic conditions such as hypertension and dia-
~Dr. Thong Luong– betes, we recommended the patients to see their doctor regu-
Vietnamese Doctor larly. As for the acute conditions, we educated them about pre-
vention methods.

Educational Programs & Health Survey

In addition to providing
health care for the patients,
health education and survey
were also conducted.
Health education this year
was conducted differently
compared to last year.
This year, we wanted to
dedicate more attention to
each patient, so the
education was a one to one
consultation on problems the
medical students believe the
patient needs to know. The
topics for the education
included hypertension,
diabetes, women's health,
respiratory problems, acid
reflux, diarrhea, nutrition
and safety.
The survey we conducted
this year focused on hy-
pertension due to a large
number of hypertension
cases in the previous
mission trip. In this
survey, we hope to
understand the cause for
the high hypertension
rate in Viet Nam.

Our Visits
Upon our return to Saigon, we visited many places and learned a lot from those places.
The first place we stopped by was a small clinic called New Village Clinic, At the clinic,
we were introduced to the employees and were given a description of the types of work
Dr. Phan does at the clinic. Afterward, we were given a tour of the place and learned a
lot more about the place and the types of operation that he does.

The next day at Saigon, we visited Bung Sang, a home for blind children and an orphan-
age in charge by Father Hoang Van Binh. We spent most of our afternoon getting to
know them .

We also visited a nursing home in Cu Chi., where we conversed with the elders. Our
next stop was at Thien Phuoc Home, a home for disabled children that is run by the local
nuns. At both sites, it was very sad to witness the conditions the elders and the disabled
children were in; we were glad that our present gave them joy.
 VNMAP 2010 Medical Mission Page 4
in Pictures
"Together we experienced a new side
of Viet Nam that was at times shock-
ing and sad, and at others, fun and
exciting. The clinic days were tiring,
but every day, we would meet at least
a few truly wonderful patients or be
able to help someone who was really
sick - these moments made things like
waking up early and working in the
heat completely worthwhile“
~Michelle Phan– Volunteer

This mission offered me a chance to work inti-

mately with physicians, and see a large volume of
patients with pathologies rarely seen in the US. In
a very short time, I became comfortable with a
streamlined patient interview, basic physical
exam, case presentation, and writing prescrip-
tions. The experience was invaluable to my
growth as a future physician and I am very grate-
ful to have had this opportunity!"
~Hayley Ryan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The success of our 2010 Medical Mission Trip to Viet Nam could not have been made possible without the help
of many people. We are very thankful for all of the financial support from the donors. In addition, many indi-
viduals donated supplies for us to bring to Viet Nam, which we are also grateful for. Furthermore, the trip
would not have been successful without the experience and expertise of the team physicians as well as our team
pharmacist. Especially this year, we have built a strong collaboration with and received a lot of help from our
partners in Viet Nam; Vinh Long and Tien Giang’s volunteers, and the officials and physicians in Tam Duc
Heart Hospital in Saigon.

VNMAP’s Sponsors: ~Trandai Financial Solution, LLC

~Catholic University of America ~John Hopkins School of Medicine
~ Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine ~Woodholme Gastroenterology Associates
~The Nguyen’s Gift Shop ~Mr. & Mrs. Tuan and Phuong Pham ~Mr. & Mrs. Hoang and Mai Nguyen