Fresh Starts and New Perspectives
Below is my monthly message for the September 2019 edition of the MHRI newsletter, Focus. You can view Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Last week I returned from a fun and fascinating trip to Vietnam. It gave me a whole new perspective on what is possible.
I was invited to present at the Vietnam national cardiology conference, visit some of their hospitals and lecture at a new medical school (see pictures on my blog, Notes from Neil). The most remarkable thing was how far their medical care has come in a relatively short period. You see, I was in the country 20 years ago, introducing cardiac ultrasound to a newly opened ‘Heart Hospital’ in Hanoi. Since then, they have left a third world-medical environment that operated with very limited technology, few medications, ‘open’ hospital design with one big room per hospital floor, and with medical knowledge a full generation behind.
Hanoi now has 2 Heart Hospitals (each with approximately 400 beds dedicated to cardiology), a modern cardiac surgery and interventional program, and some state-of-the-art machines. This transformation became very personal when I met Dr. Hoai Nguyen, the Vice Director of Bach Mai Hospital (Vietnam National Heart Institute). I first met Dr. Nguyen 20 years ago when I went there to help train them on their first cardiac ultrasound machine; she now has a fully functional lab with 16 machines and 8 physicians, doing more ultrasounds than most US hospitals! And it is not just the technology – the digital age and accessibility of knowledge via the internet has allowed these medical professionals to be among the brightest and most up-to-date doctors I have met anywhere. They have done all of this with a national medical program serving over 90 million people (in a country the size of California) with a cap on expenditure at approximately $3000 per patient per year. While that means there are still ‘wards’ with a dozen patients in one room, the quality of care is impressive. In short, I was inspired by their dedication, hard work, and reluctance to settle for second-class medicine despite continued headwinds. What I learned from the experience is that if there is the will, there is a way!
I hope your summer was refreshing, in some manner, for your body and/or mind. I look forward to the start of the new ‘school-year’ and the things we will learn together.
Neil
Happy Labor
Day weekend!
It is officially the end of summer and the start of the new school year. As the kids go back to school and reunite with their friends, the classic opening line is ‘what did you do this summer?’ Vacation? Travel? A new project? Maybe you finally got a chance to clean out the closet or fix that leaky sink. Or did you go for some down-time by the water and enjoy a new book? Summer seems to be a time to explore new things, catch up on life and expand our horizons.
It is officially the end of summer and the start of the new school year. As the kids go back to school and reunite with their friends, the classic opening line is ‘what did you do this summer?’ Vacation? Travel? A new project? Maybe you finally got a chance to clean out the closet or fix that leaky sink. Or did you go for some down-time by the water and enjoy a new book? Summer seems to be a time to explore new things, catch up on life and expand our horizons.
Last week I returned from a fun and fascinating trip to Vietnam. It gave me a whole new perspective on what is possible.
I was invited to present at the Vietnam national cardiology conference, visit some of their hospitals and lecture at a new medical school (see pictures on my blog, Notes from Neil). The most remarkable thing was how far their medical care has come in a relatively short period. You see, I was in the country 20 years ago, introducing cardiac ultrasound to a newly opened ‘Heart Hospital’ in Hanoi. Since then, they have left a third world-medical environment that operated with very limited technology, few medications, ‘open’ hospital design with one big room per hospital floor, and with medical knowledge a full generation behind.
Hanoi now has 2 Heart Hospitals (each with approximately 400 beds dedicated to cardiology), a modern cardiac surgery and interventional program, and some state-of-the-art machines. This transformation became very personal when I met Dr. Hoai Nguyen, the Vice Director of Bach Mai Hospital (Vietnam National Heart Institute). I first met Dr. Nguyen 20 years ago when I went there to help train them on their first cardiac ultrasound machine; she now has a fully functional lab with 16 machines and 8 physicians, doing more ultrasounds than most US hospitals! And it is not just the technology – the digital age and accessibility of knowledge via the internet has allowed these medical professionals to be among the brightest and most up-to-date doctors I have met anywhere. They have done all of this with a national medical program serving over 90 million people (in a country the size of California) with a cap on expenditure at approximately $3000 per patient per year. While that means there are still ‘wards’ with a dozen patients in one room, the quality of care is impressive. In short, I was inspired by their dedication, hard work, and reluctance to settle for second-class medicine despite continued headwinds. What I learned from the experience is that if there is the will, there is a way!
I hope your summer was refreshing, in some manner, for your body and/or mind. I look forward to the start of the new ‘school-year’ and the things we will learn together.
Neil
P.S. Mark
your calendars now for Monday,
April 6, 2020, for the
2020 MedStar Health-Georgetown University Research Symposium! View the flyer here.
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