UMC Shadowing Day 1 (7/14) || Michelle Pham

Kick-starting off 16G, we went to visit old and new friends at UMC, or University Medical Center HCMC! Before hopping on to our buses, everybody got breakfast at the downstairs hotel, all dressed in our business casual attire. I could feel the excitement in the air as people were conversing and sharing to each other on which departments they would be shadowing today at UMC, but before that, we had the heart ceremony to look forward to where we get to meet with the children whose heart surgeries that we helped sponsor alongside our partner organizations as well. These next few days were going to be ones filled with learning, fulfillment, and new perspectives.

We boarded our travel buses and made the trip to UMC, and right as we arrived, you could immediately note the difference between how the hospital looked compared to ones that we are used to in the states. Before arriving at UMC, I remember Shierica asking me how I would describe the difference, and I told her that even though UMC has its own emergency room, the entirety of the facility looked like one big ER itself, given how there is a massive volume of patients for the whole day, and how the lobby was incredibly crowded. Everyone took the stairs up to the 3rd floor of the hospital where we are led into a conference theater room. There, we held the heart ceremony and it felt super rewarding seeing all of the heart surgery recipients and their families coming out to express their gratitude. Behind all of our fundraising efforts led to this very moment, and hearing the families share their stories felt very moving. In that moment, it truly felt tangible that our actions really made an impact. Afterwards, we started dispersing into our designated groups to begin our shadowing day.

For the first day, I was able to shadow in the OB/GYN department in a group with Anh, Bao, Jeffrey, Dalena, Jolie, and Dr. Christine Tran. It felt especially helpful that Dr. Christine was with us as she was a pediatrician and provided us with relevant medical background to further enrich our understanding of the procedures being done. We were led to the surgical floor and had the opportunity to observe births that were expected to take place. We first changed into the hospital’s scrubs (which were so comfy and felt like pajamas) and then split up into two groups. It was such a privilege to be and observe in the operating room, and the staff on hand were kindly accommodating us. I was with Anh, Bao, and Dr. Christine. While we were waiting, the four of us had really nice conversations with Dr. Christine. We talked about our future goals, career paths, and Dr. Christine had nothing but incredibly insightful thoughts to share, answering any question that we had. For my group, we were able to observe a c-section from start to finish. We had the opportunity to stay in one of ORs and watch the surgeons and scrub nurses prep the mother patient and perform the c-section surgery. The staff were also friendly and even asked if we were scared. When I heard the mother’s newborn baby get delivered and crying, I felt everyone around me sigh with excitement and content. After getting cleaned up, the baby had a moment of skin-to-skin contact with the mother, and it was a beautiful thing to see. As our time almost came to an end, our group rushed to change out of our scrubs so that we could catch our buses. On the way back, everybody was sharing their experiences on how their first day went, and others knocked out on the bus. Although it was just the first day, it was an activity-filled day, and I was able to learn so much.

Finger hearts🫰 all around for our lovely heart surgery recipients, their families, our incredible sponsors and collaborators, and MEMO! ❤️

Scrubbed up in the OB/GYN department! with Dr. Christine Tran, Bao, and Anh!

Shadowing Day 1 done! Peep us leaving the OBGYN department…not pictured was us scrambling to change our clothes before this and rushing to go catch the bus…yes we had to simply take this photo before leaving though 😌