Rotary-sponsored weekend for medical students at the Vietnamese-German Faculty of Medicine (VGFM)
Ten Vietnamese medical students from the Vietnamese-German Faculty of Medicine (VGFM) visited the large St. Georg Hospital in Hamburg at the beginning of October. Working in small groups, they got to know the functional units of gastroenterology, cardiology and angiology and discussed these with their colleagues. For example, they learned about endoscopy and ultrasound diagnostics, the function of pacemakers and the dilation of blood vessels in arteriosclerosis. On the second study day, they visited the fully equipped internal intensive care unit, where they completed a teaching round and discussed intensive care techniques as well as legal and ethical issues in the care of critically ill patients. They also visited the stroke unit. The tour concluded with a visit to the Marien Hospital in Hamburg, and in particular to its Emergency Department, which was enthusiastically and competently presented and discussed by the Director, Dr Wünning, as a model for the future for the whole of Germany.
The trip was rounded off with an evening of bowling and a tour of the harbour as the rain clouds parted and the sun shone.
The long weekend was organised as a project of the Rotary ICC Germany-Vietnam and is one of the first completed projects of the newly formed committee.
The ten Vietnamese medical students are members of the faculty of the PNT University in Ho Chi Minh City, which has been cooperating with the University Medical Centre Mainz since 2013. They started their studies in Vietnam according to the German curriculum, passed their German medical exams 1 +2 there, and completed their final year in the region of Braunschweig. They will then continue their specialist training in Germany.
Currently, 70 VGFM graduates are working in Germany as resident doctors in various specialties.
Contact person: Dr. med. Benno R. Schwartz, RC Helmstedt.