Hoc Mai Board Report – Marianne Dowsett
Last summer I was one of the very fortunate students to be selected for the Hoc Mai Scholarship to
Vietnam. I worked at Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi with the Plastic Surgery team under Dr Ha for the
four weeks, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I found the first day of hospital very overwhelming; learning how to communicate with basic English
and hand gestures, finding my way around and working out where I fitted into the team, were what I
remember most. However I quickly found my place and started enjoying the routine of ward work
and surgeries. Dr Ha was a fantastic supervisor and encouraged me to participate in examination on
both the ward and in clinic, and whenever he had a spare moment he would teach me an aspect of
plastic surgery. The rest of the team was incredibly welcoming and would invite me to assist in
surgery and teach me skills such as suturing and drilling.
Although the time I spent in hospital was a fantastic educational experience I believe that the true
strength of the Hoc Mai Scholarship lies in the exchange of culture with the Vietnamese. I learnt a
lot about their culture and participated in many social activities with my team, including breakfast,
karaoke and birthday lunches. To share our culture I spoke to the team about Australia and the
health system here and showed them photos. As my parents were visiting I asked them to bring
over some western breakfast foods, like Crunchynut cornflakes and marmite, and one morning
served ‘western’ breakfast for the team – which they found highly amusing! I have never lived for a
period of time in another culture and found being immersed in Vietnamese culture both confronting
and fascinating. By the end of the four weeks I felt very comfortable and could negotiate traffic like
a pro!
I think another notable strength of the Scholarship is its multidisciplinary nature. I enjoyed getting
to know the nurses, physio and speech pathologist that came along and can say now I truely
understand their role in the health system much better. Spending time with a fantastic group adds
to the experience in Vietnam and we had great fun in the weekends travelling to places like Sapa and
Halong Bay.
Once again, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity the Hoc Mai Scholarship provided and I look
forward to sharing the experiences with others. I am lucky enough to have Douglas Falconer as a
friend, and his assistance before I left with answering questions and teaching me skills was priceless;
I only hope I can inspire the students in the year below like he did me. I am set to do a presentation
for the second year students at RPA nearer the Scholarship application date to encourage them to
apply and, along with the other students who came along, are writing a short document with some
useful tips for the trip.