Photo series #8: The Reading Glass Project

Sorry to bring you back a few weeks, but I never had a chance to post these pictures. Here is another series of pictures from the hospital when we were testing eyesight and handing out reading glasses. I will never travel to another developing country without bringing reading glasses along, it completely enhances your experience and brings even more meaning to your worldly adventures. We share conversations, take pictures and leave glasses.

-Scott

P.S. Read more about the amazing non-profit that gave us the opportunity to give glasses to those in great need: http://readingglassproject.com/.

Photo series #7: Kien Giang General Hospital

For those of you wondering what a large, public hospital in rural Vietnam looks like, here it is. Out of respect for privacy, I did not take pictures of patients or their family members who were not involved in our study. I also did not take pictures of patients without their permission. Nearly every room we walked by each morning was completely packed with patients' beds, some chronically ill patients lay on the floor with only a straw mat. Every patient has a family member sitting next to them, fanning them when they roll over to one side. Meals are had on the hospital floor. Clothes are washed by hand in gray water and hung to dry in the hallways. When I first entered this hospital, I told Audrey it reminded me of a war hospital from 50s, barely above water trying to care for all of the causalities of a poverty-stricken healthcare system. Patients do not come to the hospital until they are knocking on deaths door (the costs are too high to come in any earlier), the hospital is understaffed and unequipped, and Scaudrey is in the middle of it all.

-Scott

Old school EKG (still in use)

Doctors office

Entrance to the Neurology ward

Lunch break = department closed

Toiletry shelf

What color was mine again?

Neurology crew

A moderately filled room

A familiar face

Lunchtime

Natural drying machine, but sterile?

The gates leaving our department

A random hallway

A common sight

Hospital bathroom. Yes, that's a bathtub.

Drying machine

A nice green space

Loitering family members

Hospital hallways

Our stroke team

Sometimes it felt like a prison

Moisture and decay

On a sidewalk next to the hospital

Empty medicine bottles

Photo series #6: Audrey in Action

Audrey was trained to administer the NIH Stroke Scale when she was a volunteer for the Stroke Team at UCLA. She also studied the neurological exam as a first year medical student at UCI. We used this standardized scale to measure the severity of the stroke patients in our study. Although she was a bit rusty and intimidated when we first started (being trained in English does not prepare you for evaluations in Vietnamese!), by the end of the 6 weeks she was a pro. No translators needed! I can imagine what she will be like in 5-7 years as a practicing physician, and believe me, you will want to have her as your doctor.

During the last couple of days at the hospital, I followed her around with the camera and took some pictures of her in action. Enjoy!

-Scott