UMC Shadowing Day 2 (7/15) || Ryan Nguyen

Our second shadowing day continues at UMC. This time, I was in the cardiology department. Our guide, a cardiologist, shows us around the unit, and the first thing I noticed was the amount of equipment. EKG machines, treadmills, and the like seem to populate a good amount of rooms in the department. The cardiologist then took us into the meeting room, where he showed us the digital system the hospital uses to access patient history, info, and other information. According to the cardiologist, UMC’s online record system is the most advanced in Vietnam. He proceeded to show us how quick it was to access a particular patient’s information, including any relevant diagnoses/treatments. It seemed that everything that hospital staff might need to access is located on one platform for convenience sake. The cardiologist then showed us one patient’s CT scan, which I personally found interesting because we could visualize the patient’s beating heart and its structure. After that, our shadowing group took our lunch break at Thai Spice at Huong Vuong mall, conveniently located across the street from UMC. It was there that I got to know the people in my group over some nice thai food. After we eat, our group joins other shadowers in walking back to UMC to continue our PM shift. Back at the cardiology unit, a new guide walks us through the rest of the department and explains the function of their equipment. My takeaway from this is that diagnosing a potential heart condition is a sequential process. They start with an EKG to visualize heart rhythms. If necessary, they may escalate to the echocardiogram to take an ultrasound of the heart. As a final step, they may have the patient use a treadmill to elevate their heart rate. This is also called the stress test, and it’s a non-invasive procedure that cardiologists use to see how the heart functions during physical exertion. After our tour of the unit, we head back to the third floor for another debrief before heading back to the hotel. For our downtime , me and a few other mission-trip goers go shopping for clothes. Our dinner was at Hoang Yen, a newly established Vietnamese restaurant in District 1. The food was sublime, and I particularly liked the crepes that were served for dessert. We ended off the day with even more shopping, because of the innate desire for retail therapy.

Mission-trip volunteers on the third floor lobby of UMC

A CT scan is presented to the cardiology shadowing group.

Shadowing groups walk back to UMC after breaking for lunch.

Cardiology group after their first full day of shadowing.

At the time of writing, I’m barely a week into mission trip, but so far it has been enlightening and rewarding. It was great to see our fundraising efforts resulted in something tangible, and I’ve learned about the healthcare system here in Vietnam through conversation and direct observation. I’m resolved to continue advocating for the underserved and addressing health disparities, both in the states and abroad.