Vietnam

I've been in Vietnam for the past week. We've got 3 more days here and then we sail over to Cambodia. Here's what I've been doing...

On the ship, I see mostly pre and post op patients. Most people are here for cataracts, burn and scar revisions, cleft lip/palate repairs, and GYN and lap/chole's (gall bladder removals). We've had a couple of thyroidectomies, as well. We also have several dental cases come on board, but I don't see most of those. We can't take any major cases on board, simply because we're only here for the 12 days. We are trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. I hope we can make a positive difference in these people's lives, and I think we're succeeding.

Off the ship, we do MEDCAPs, about 3 or so sites per day, where we set up a little clinic area and see people for optometry, medical complaints and dental repairs. We also set up a pharmacy so we can prescribe medications. We typically see anywhere from at least 500-900 patients per day at each site. It's pretty incredible how quickly we can see people in and out; this is no family practice doctor where it takes about an hour to see each patient. We only take vital signs if it's clinically indicated. We are also doing engineering CAPs and COMRELs, building clinics and schools, and building COMmunity RELations by visiting various schools, hospitals, painting houses,etc etc. Basically a bunch of service projects. It's pretty cool.

I had a liberty day, where I got a day to go out on shore and do a little sightseeing. We walked along the beach, watched some locals play volleyball (it's very big here), saw a Buddhist temple and got a taste of local Vietnamese life. It's very different from the US. Some things I've noticed...

-Everyone here rides scooters or bikes. And they pack families of 4 and 5 onto one scooter without blinking an eye, with little babies either sitting on laps or on the front of the scooter in the basket. It's pretty amazing and would be appalling in the US, but the Vietnamese I guess aren't quite as paranoid about safety and use a little more common sense. Sometimes they wear helmets, sometimes they don't. They also wear these little surgical masks to keep from breathing in the pollution.
-There appear to be slim to no traffic laws. Traffic goes every which way and people slide in to nooks and crannies wherever they can on the streets. They use their horns freely and don't get in the way of other people. Kind of like an organized chaos.
-It's a major fishing community. They have giant nets hanging out in the ocean that get submersed in high tide, and then they hope to get fish after the tide goes out. They have these little mixing bowl looking boats and they sit along the beach and go through everything they've caught. All you see along the beach are little boats and fisherman. Kind of cool.

Having a blast and working hard. 3 more days in Vietnam and then it's off to Cambodia.