Enhancing Vietnamese Healthcare: training of health professionals from Hue Central Hospital - Vietnam.

Vietnamese healthcare professionals are expanding their expertise through specialized training in hematopoietic cell transplantation at our BMJH-Bangalore, India, partner center. This initiative bolsters capabilities for the cure of severe thalassemia syndromes in Vietnam,and sees the collaboration, in addition with Sankalp India Foundation, Asian Children's Care League, DKMS Group, Germany, as well as professionals from the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, USA.

Testimonial from the Vietnamese team after spending a few weeks training at Sankalp - Baghwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, Bangalore - India.

'Today is the last day that we (from Hue Central Hospital, Vietnam) study in BMT unit in Bangalore. It was an excellent opportunity for us. We learnt many things.

Firstly, we could learn the good behaviors. You were so kind and so devoted to guide us everything. In the first day we arrived BMT unit, every nurses and doctors welcomed us so warmly. Then, Dr. Mohan, Rakesh and Rubina held a meeting to discuss with us the program and showed us every place in BMT unit.

Secondly, we could learn many knowledges and experiences for thalassemia transplant and severe aplastic anemia. For our nurse, Ms. Tram could observer and know how to prepare patients, medicines and equipments before doing procedures including bone marrow harvest, peripheral bone marrow harvest, stem cell infusion, fluid and antibiotic infusions. Ms. Tram also learnt how to record patients’ condition through BMT plus and how to educate their parents to keep hygiene.

For doctors, Dr. Nhan (although she is a very young doctor) could learn general knowledges about BMT and thalassemia transplant. Although, Dr. Mohan and other doctors were so busy but everyday, they always managed their time to teach us. We learnt many lesions, such as: HLA typing, BMT harvesting, conditionining regimen, GVHD prophylaxis, GVHD treatment, follow up chimerism, treatment mix-chimerism, how to follow up and treat side effects after transplant. And luckily, during study, we had opportunity to observer how to do BM harvest at operation room. Dr. Mohan gave Dr. Nhan a chance to harvest bone marrow with him. And whenever we had any questions, doctors and nurses were so devoted to answered and explained very clearly.

 

Thirdly, every morning and every evening, we had chance to follow Dr. Mohan and other nurses to see patients. And when we saw patients could recover so quickly after transplant. These achievements encouraged us to do transplant for our thalassemia patients in Vietnam. For some difficult cases, we could learn how to manage patients.

Fourthly, everything in India was written in English, so we could understand. We had chance to access BMT plus. Sister Urifica kindly taught us how to put data to BMT plus program. We also had chance to join some nurses’ activities. And we found it useful. We hope we could implement in our department after we go home. We also had chance to join online presentations and discussions which were every useful for us.

Lastly, we would like to express our deep attitude to Dr. Lawrence and Cure2Children Foundation who sent us to BMT unit in Bangalore, so we could have good chance to study. And we greatly appreciated BMJH-Sankalp Centre for Paediatric Hematology Oncology & BMT and Sankalp india foundation to teach us and prepare for us many equipments and medicines for doing the first case in our center. We would like to have your continuous support to help us to do allogeneic transplant for thalassemia patients in our center. And we promise to be eager to implement what we had learnt from all of you to our center.  Thank you so so much.'