Clinic Set Up (7/23) || Dylan Sims

Today, we departed Saigon for Vĩnh Long province, where our mobile clinic will take place. We rose at 6:45 AM to store our luggage at the hotel and pack essentials for three days of clinic work. The four-hour drive to the province gave me time to feel excited about the clinic and wonder how many patients we’d assist this year. En route, Bus 1 turned back to the hotel to retrieve last-minute optometry supplies. Since the clinic marks the end of our trip, most of us were tired, and nearly everyone slept during the bus ride. We enjoyed bánh mì for lunch on the bus.

Upon arriving at the clinic site, everyone pitched in to unload supplies from the bus to the clinic building. Then we set up tables and chairs for each station. Unlike last year, when dental, optometry, vitals, cardiology, and pharmacy were in separate rooms, this time we arranged everything in one large room. Although it will be cramped and crowd control may be challenging, communication between departments will be much more efficient. Our partners, including UMC and the Saigon Dental Charity Team, arrived later to finalize logistics. My role was to assist with setup and coordinate the dental refresher training, which involved 24 students divided into four groups of six. Each group will rotate through various dental procedures and infection control training, learning from our dentists. While this was happening, all of our other volunteers participated in vitals-taking refresher training.

Everyone helping set up tables and chairs for each medical station.

Vitals and dental refresher training

Dental supplies set up by the Saigon Charity Dental team beforehand.