Vietnam Elective

'J' writes...

The Vietnam elective I did was well organized though I learned little medicine (and more about the culture). It was also tough coming to terms with the fact that they had incredible resources but didn't in all cases have the education or compassion to use them as we might be used to.

I worked at Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) http://www.facebook.com/l/71c4c;www.choray.org.vn/eleccourse.asp. The elective was set up directly through the hospital; they charge a small fee but you will have a locker and meals provided if you are in the Emergency room. The patients mostly speak Vietnamese, some English. Depending on the length of the elective, you'd do a few weeks in the ER and then a few in infectious disesease/paeds/etc. as desired. There is suturing, ultrasounding, intubations, and recusses in the ER. You can't really take any histories since even the forms are in Vietnamese (even though I was told the hospital was run in English). [I think I first heard about this from this website http://www.facebook.com/l/71c4c;www.thelancetstudent.com/2008/01/25/viva-vietnam/ which I discovered through googling "vietnam medical student elective" or the like].

Forgive my cynicism; I should say that I've done electives in 4 countries and have seen quite a variety of settings. I move to engage in sustainable placements in which I am able to leave something behind (eg. teaching the ABCs to medical students in Cambodia) as opposed to simply being an observer or a 'taker.'

That said, this may be an appropriate elective for someone who speaks Vietnamese, really wants to manage a lot of head trauma with few resources, or to understand the medical culture of an inner-city hospital in Vietnam. You may see some interesting pathology but much of it is similar to what you probably see at home. Experiencing HCMC is well worth the trip, though I'd caution you to set low expectations for learning at Cho Ray.