VCF

Onsite/Offsite Training

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There are many excellent medical volunteers willing to give their time to visit developing countries to help train local doctors and improve their medical education. VCF coordinates onsite and offsite training programs for doctors in Vietnam in order to raise their medical skills and the hospitals’ level of care to international standards, as well as improve outcomes for treatment of children with heart disease and other serious illnesses.

Our experience has shown that doctors who train with Western surgeons and specialists exponentially improve their quality of care in all areas, including diagnosis, infection control, and hospital administration. In addition, exposure to English-language training enables the doctors to better read and comprehend international medical literature, periodicals, and studies. These training programs foster discussions and collaborative relationships between Western specialists and their trainees that continue beyond the training period.

Onsite Training

The onsite training program focuses on training local medical professionals through preceptorship visits by exemplary Western-trained medical professionals in areas such as diagnosis, crisis intervention, surgery, and post-operative intensive care.
A donation of $2,500 will provide economy air ticket and hotel for a visiting surgeon or pediatric specialist from the US to train for one week. The doctor donates 10 days of his/her time for the visit. In-kind donations of frequent flyer miles for the purchase of tickets will also be accepted.

Offsite Training

VCF also supports offsite training visits for Vietnamese doctors through mentoring fellowships to exemplary overseas medical institutions. These immersion trainings run approximately two to three months, during which the visiting doctor will increase his or her medical, hospital administrative, and English language skills. Offsite training is a critical component in building medical capacity for developing countries, as it offers the visiting doctors training and knowledge exchange in an international-standard medical setting. Our partners in this process for 2010 include Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, Harvard’s Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne, and University Hospital of Geneva.

A donation of $5,000 will provide transportation, accommodations, and training costs for a Vietnamese specialist to participate in a mentoring fellowship in the US.