International Student Placement - Hue, Vietnam, 2008

International Student Placement - Hue, Vietnam, 2008
David Ireland & Myles Gibson

David Ireland and Myles Gibson had the opportunity to complete their professional placement at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, one of QUT's collaborating partner institution with the QUT-Vietnam Public Health Program. 

Myles Gibson reflects on the experiences gained from this opportunity:
On August 28th, 2008 David and I left Australia for Hue, Vietnam to do our professional placement on the problem of drink-driving in Vietnam.  During our placement we researched the topic of drink driving in the Vietnamese context, observed road traffic injured patients in an emergency department (alcohol was often a contributor), did observations in bars to see how many beers men consumed before driving home and interviewed students on their perceptions of drink driving.  We also talked to doctors in the ER about what could be done to reduce the road traffic injury due to alcohol.
Our host, Tam from Hue UMP was just fantastic and showed us all aspects of Vietnamese life.  We were invited to spend time with our host and his friends at a beach resort, attend a wedding and visit with his family while already spending Monday to Friday supervising us.  During out time we learnt many things such as the basics of the language (many people speak English), the policy on road safety, the funding for research projects such as Tam's, the social habits of the Vietnamese and how the hospital operates.
We also did some touring around central Vietnam, including Hoi An and Hanoi.  The most beautiful place that we visited was Lang Co beach where we stayed one night and did karaoke and ate a lot of bizarre food.
This experience is definitely the best thing that I have done in my studies so far.  It has taught me a lot about the world and I hope that one day I can help alleviate the awful situation of drink driving in developing countries.
The photo showed 2 QUT students. When they came Hue and complete university Thesis