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Doctor Nguyen Phu Huu (third from the left) and his Filipino colleagues in Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center. |
One day at the end of February 2023, Doctor Nguyen Phu Huu – Deputy Head of the Gastroenterology Department of Binh Dan Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam) - was in the Philippines, taking the role of head of the robotic surgery team to perform an operation on a Filipino cancer patient.
It was such a complicated case because the middle-aged female patient was suffering from rectal cancer. She had just finished colostomy surgery and gone through chemotherapy three months before. At that time, she needed to have her tumor removed by robot. Doctors in Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (the Philippines) considered this as a challenging case with extremely high risk, and therefore dared not perform the surgery with robotic technology. They decided to ask for help from Vietnam.
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Vietnamese doctors in Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital are performing endoscopy for a Cambodian patient |
In response, Binh Dan Hospital sent Doctor Nguyen Phu Huu, who has gained rich experience after over 270 robotic surgery cases, to offer medical aid. The operation was successful and has left good impression on the Filipino colleagues about the professional level of the Vietnamese healthcare. In the five days staying there, Doctor Huu also shared his own valuable experience with hundreds of doctors in the host country.
Staying in Phnom Penh (Capital of Cambodia) for nearly 20 years, many Vietnamese medical officers from Cho Ray Hospital have been regarded by the Cambodian as their ‘relatives’ because of the devotion to disease treatment of the Vietnamese. A lot of Cambodian citizens come to hospital specifically to seek the help of Vietnamese doctors since they completely trust the professional skills of those doctors.
Since 2014, each year there have been 400-500 doctors and medical experts of Cho Ray Hospital sent to Cambodia both to offer professional help and to transfer advanced technologies in the field. Doctor Tran Thanh Tung, Head of the Hematology Department in Cho Ray Hospital, shared that the three years working in Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital was an unforgettable time.
At first, he and his team had to face several difficulties ranging from language barrier, culture shocks, to unsuitable food or homesickness. Then they gradually became used to working in the new country to fulfill their duty of treating diseases and saving life. He commented that Cambodian people are gentle and kind, and usually gift doctors with self-grown produce to show their gratitude.
Similarly, Dr. Ton Thanh Tra has stayed in Cambodia for over 4 years under the role of General Director of Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital. During the peak time of the latest Covid-19 outbreak in the host country, he and his team participated in the front-line force as Cho Ray Phnom Penh Hospital was chosen by the Cambodian Government as a site to treat Covid-19 patients. Highly aware of the danger, Dr. Tra and his colleagues bravely fulfilled their assigned duty.
Many other doctors of Cho Ray Hospital have also contributed to helping the Cambodian even though they do not come there. The cross-border medical consultation they provide or some unexpected quick visits to perform complicated operations in a few days are extremely valuable to help their counterparts in Cambodia to take care of local patients.
