Joining Ha Dong General Hospital, Hanoi

The following report was written by Sofia Westwater.

Through the generous support of the TH Volunteering Award, I spent two weeks at Ha Dong General Hospital, a district hospital on the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam, within the Paediatrics Department. As a final-year medical student at the University of Cambridge, this placement offered a unique opportunity to immerse myself in a very different healthcare environment, gain clinical experience, and contribute meaningfully to patient care.

Each morning, I joined the team of doctors and nurses on their ward rounds, participating in discussions, assisting with patient assessments, and learning from a wide range of clinical presentations. I examined patients alongside the team and spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where I helped comfort babies whose parents were unable to be present during the day. These moments, though simple, were deeply moving and brought home the human aspect of medicine in a particularly powerful way.

Clinically, I encountered several conditions that are rare in the UK, including several serious measles cases. At the time of writing this report, Vietnam is currently experiencing a measles epidemic, driven by low vaccination rates, and I saw first-hand the serious complications that can arise from this preventable disease.
I also engaged in regular discussions with the Vietnamese doctors about how paediatric care is delivered in the UK, which led to many insightful exchanges. These conversations helped build international understanding and deepened our mutual appreciation of each other’s training, challenges, and values. I was struck by the strong team ethos at Ha Dong, and the compassion shown to both patients and colleagues in a high-pressure environment.

This placement has had a lasting impact on my development as a clinician. It reinforced my commitment to paediatrics and inspired me to pursue future work in global child health. I hope to return to Ha Dong General Hospital in the future as a qualified paediatrician, continuing the relationships I’ve formed and offering more sustained clinical support.

I am sincerely grateful to the TH Volunteering Award for making this experience possible. It has shaped the way I think about medicine, international collaboration, and the responsibilities we carry as future doctors working in an increasingly interconnected world.