From 2013-2014, I had the opportunity to be involved with a student-led non-profit organization called the Vietnam Health Clinic (VHC) where we aim to provide free healthcare access and services to rural, underprivileged communities in Vietnam during the summer for two weeks. The first year of VHC I was able to help prepare for the VHC 2013 trip. In 2014, I finally was able to travel to Vietnam. This was not only my first opportunity to visit Vietnam, but also my first volunteering experience abroad. Throughout the two years as a student volunteer, my responsibilities including setting up and participating in small fundraiser and our annual benefit dinner to raise money to purchase medical supplies and medicine In addition, I was trained the various healthcare components including intake, vitals, optometry, medical, dental, pharmacy, and public health, so that I was prepared to see patients in Vietnam. I was able to directly observe and address the true realities of healthcare in a third world country while participating in the clinical processes to serve the underserved populations.  This experience allowed me to work with communities in my home country and to understand the communities I might be working with in the future as I purse rural medicine.

 

Interpersonal Interaction: Collaboration

What I took away the most from my experiences as a VHC member was the value of teamwork and collaboration with the members, leaders, and health professionals, both while preparing for the trip and during the trip. Throughout the year, teamwork was a constant theme in all of the VHC activities. This was even truer when we left the airport and started our trip to Vietnam. Teamwork was the driving force for our clinic flow to be successful. During the two weeks we not only struggled together, but challenged and supported each other in order to provide the best sustainable health for rural Vietnamese communities. Seeing how hard everyone was working towards fulfilling our mission of equitable health care for the Vietnamese people energized me despite the long exhausting days. Overall, this experience taught me the value of collaboration and to embrace it in order to develop a strong foundation for team work in order to have effective and committed actions.

 

Communication: Nonverbal Communication

Going to any foreign country can be daunting. Every member in VHC was worried about communication on the trip. Growing up I was always very proud of my Vietnamese. Growing up in Washington and in the American education system, I was not exposed to Vietnamese at school. Despite this, my parents urged me to attend Vietnamese School on Sundays in order to preserve my heritage. This proved to be very useful during VHC because not all of the members spoke Vietnamese, so Vietnamese speakers acted as translators. Everyone was trained collectively to use hand signals, which was very important for non-Vietnamese speakers. I was one of the strong Vietnamese speakers and during the trainings I was able to teach others. Despite the hours of practice we had, this did not 100% prepare us for what a normal clinic day. I learned that there were a lot of colloquialism used in daily language and some of the patients we saw during in our mobile clinic were mountain folk who did not speak Vietnamese. This made it more difficult to communicate with many of the patients. Fortunately, I had remembered that VHC taught us the value of nonverbal communication. I was able to gesture simple movements such as “follow me”, or “please breathe in deeply” while using the Vietnamese I knew. This was vital to see patients who did not understand us. Additionally, I learned that nonverbal communication was important not only between volunteers and patients, but between volunteers as well. Working in a mobile clinic is very hard work and everyone gets frustrated or exhausted throughout the day. Nonverbal cues such as a hug, or a smile can really brighten up someone’s day and provide the energy to push until every patient was seen.

 

Personal Behavior: Initiative

During my time with VHC there were various opportunities to step up and take a leadership position. Such instances include our annual benefit dinners, for the new Public Health component, and during our mobile clinic rotations. Taking these leadership roles contributed to the overall success of our health care efforts. The success of our annual benefit dinner was crucial because it would raise the majority of the funds for the medical equipment and medicine needed for the trip. For our benefit dinner, I joined the Decorations Committee and voluntarily took on the role of one of the entertainment leads and one of the fashion show leads. By taking initiative and pursuing these role, I was in charge of recruiting entertainers and models for the fashion show, drafting entertainment program, organizing the costumes for the performers, choreographing the models dance, and holding a dress rehearsal. During my second year, I lead from behind the scenes. Since I was actively involved during my first year, I acted as a mentor and adviser to the new members. In addition, I provided the resources and contacts I had developed from the previous year. Because of my interest in Public Health, I became a member of the Public Health Committee since its inception. Our responsibilities include creating education, Vietnamese posters on prevalent health issues in Vietnam, coming up with a script for the poster presentations, and teaching other members how to effectively convey the information the posters. In Vietnam, I also took on a variety of leadership roles. Throughout our trip, our clinic roles rotate daily to ensure that everyone is exposed to various healthcare fields.  However, although I was assigned to specific stations for each clinic day, on an as-needed basis, I voluntarily took action to volunteer at other stations that were backed up with patients to ensure the efficiency of the clinic flow. Therefore, all of the VHC volunteers and I had to adapt to adverse situations during clinic, especially troubleshooting the overflow of patients at certain stations From these experiences, I learned developed skills that can be transferred to a variety of leadership roles and learned that accountability is key in any team setting and that when unforeseen events occur initiative action needs to be taken to address them efficiently.

 

Group Dynamics: Group development

From the very first day where we awkwardly play ice breakers, to the clinic days full of blood, sweat and tears, to the last day with our loving good-byes, I can honestly say that VHC is a family. Throughout my VHC experience, I would not say that I was the sole individual that contributed to building the VHC community.  This family was formed by everyone’s commitment towards fulfilling VHC’s mission, providing free healthcare services to the Vietnamese population. We as a group learned people’s strengths and weaknesses and as a result learned how to work cohesively.  By doing so, we were able to come together and raise enough money for medical supply purchases and in delivering healthcare services to those in need.  In addition to the community formed between the members of VHC, we also formed relationships with the patients we served during our clinic days.  I have developed deep bonds with the patients I saw throughout the trip. Many patients shared very personal stories with us and expressed their gratitude and appreciation of our dedicated time and investment towards helping them regain healthier and sustainable lives. From my time in VHC, I have learned to work with a diverse group of people.