Volunteer Connections
Dr. Jill Derstine has been an HVO member and volunteer since the 90s and in that time has served as director for a number of HVO’s nursing projects. She is also a current steering committee member along with Mrs. Patty…
Blog
Transforming Pediatric Dermatology in Vietnam Through International Collaboration
In August 2022, HVO volunteer Dr. Mark Koh Jean Aan, clinical associate professor and head and senior consultant at the Department of Dermatology of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore, headed to Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy (HueUMP)…
Volunteer Reflection – An Orthopaedic Surgeon in Tanzania
In March 2024, Jordan Tropf, MD, traveled to Moshi, Tanzania to teach at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC). He was the recipient of an HVO Traveling Orthopaedic Surgery Fellowship. The fellowship provides funding to defray the costs for senior orthopaedic…
HVO Sends First Volunteer to Kabale, Uganda Pediatrics Project
In September 2023, Dr. Ashley Serrette spent two weeks at the Kabale University School of Medicine as the first volunteer at HVO’s pediatric project. The project was initially launched in 2019, but, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteer travel was…
From the Classroom to Cambodia
Since 2007, Dr. Rick Henker, the director of HVO’s anesthesia project in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has been taking his students from the University of Pittsburgh to Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) to teach, learn, and connect with other students and…
Expanding Oral Health Care in Rural Uganda
Dr. David Ciesla found his way to HVO in 2020 through a colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Shick, who introduced him to the HVO oral health project in Nepal. At the time, HVO had shifted to an all-virtual program model due to…
Inspiring Nursing Education at Sihanouk Hospital Center for HOPE, Cambodia
By Patti Nicks, RN, MSN I have maintained an active connection to HVO since I first volunteered for an assignment in Vietnam in 2019. I closely followed the HVO website to keep track of opportunities to volunteer my services for…
A Volunteer Story – Cancer Rehabilitation Training in Vietnam
Jill Binkley, PT, MSc, CLT traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam in October 2023 to provide physical therapy training to staff at K Hospital. She shared her story with us. The trip was an amazing learning experience for me, and I was…
Transformative Partnerships: How Education Changes Lives
For Betty Beard, what started as short-term volunteer assignment turned into a long-term commitment serving as the project director for HVO’s nursing project in Hai Duong, Vietnam. For the last five years, she has coordinated activities and mentored nurses at…
Transforming Oral and Maxillofacial Care in Tanzania: The Impact of an Intravenous Sedation Program
Tanzania, which has a population of over 63 million, has approximately 15 practicing oral and maxillofacial surgeons. These surgeons have limited access to operating rooms they need to treat patients. The introduction of intravenous sedation would allow them to treat…
Leading Vietnam’s First Oncology Nurse Training Course
Written by: Amy Sacco, RN, MS, OCN In March of 2023 while I was scrolling through my e-mail, a new post on the Oncology Nursing Society discussion board for Global Health caught my eye. It was an opportunity to participate…
Teaching, Learning, Healing: Collaboration in Cardiology
Dr. Mark Duster and Dr. Hok Kimseng share, in their own words, the story of their partnership through HVO. Dr. Mark Duster: My first trip as an HVO volunteer was in 2016 to Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem…