Last Clinic Day

Today was our fourth and last day of clinics. We drove to the rural village of Thanh Hoa of the Cai Lay district in Tien Giang province, and when the road became too narrow. We had to get out of our giant bus and into a small van that made several trips to take us in groups to the clinic site. The ride was bumpy but scenic. I arrived with the first group of some board MEMObers and doctors, and we walked along a muddy path to arrive at a big open hall full of benches. Like any other MEMO clinic, several hundred people were already waiting since dawn to be seen. This clinic day was one of the two on this trip that was a MEMO collaboration with Benh Vien Dai Hoc Y Duoc, and they were very efficient in helping set up. As more groups of MEMObers arrived, the clinic started off almost immediately. It was easily one of the most smoothly run clinic days I have ever seen. 

Tuan and I handled the intake of patients. The hospital sends out about 500 invitations to a rural province, and the officials of that area send them out to those they believe are most in need of free medical attention, mainly the poor and elderly. At intake, I, with some help from some of those from the hospital, transcribed the names, ages, and addresses on the invitations onto the prescription forms. This was sometimes a challenge because although I know the basics of reading and writing in Vietnamese, the fancy cursive that many of the patients used was often illegible even to those proficient in Vietnamese. After working in intake at the previous three clinic however, I was getting better at it. Most Vietnamese last names were Nguyen, Tran, or Le. Middle names too, were all pretty similar, with most women carrying the name Thi and men carrying the name Van. After putting names on all the prescriptions, I helped Tuan call out names of patients and guided them to triage.

By the end of the day, around 510 villagers had been through our clinic. All of them had been through consultation with a medical professional, and received medication free of charge. Many also received an ultrasound or EKG test along with a copy of results that they could take with them for further medical attention. It is amazing to know that only a few hours of hard work accomplished so much. Working alongside Benh Vien Dai Hoc Y Duoc was also an amazing experience. We worked very well with them and I really hope to be working with them again for clinics in the future. On the bus ride back to Saigon, I knocked out for hours straight, worn out from another exhausting but amazing day with MEMO.
-Cecilia