Clinic Day 1 (7/24)

After an arduous bus ride to Tra Vinh and setting up M.E.M.O.'s mobile clinic the day before, Clinic Day 1 started bright and early at around 5:45 AM. Since the hotel was roughly 45 minutes away from the clinic site, we had to be on the bus by 6:15 AM. Prior to beginning clinic, it was known that the first day is the least busiest day out of the 3 clinic days since not as many patients come. This turned out to be a blessing since it allowed us to experiment with the structure of clinic and gather our bearings before it became more hectic in the following days. For the first day, I was assigned to Psychiatry with Dr. Lu Le, and our main job was to ensure that patients were being properly screened for possible mental health complications while in line waiting to enter clinic or while waiting for a general consultation from one of the physicians inside clinic. Those on Psychiatry had to make sure that patients who needed to see Psychiatry (based on their responses to the mental health intake form) did not trickle through the cracks and leave clinic before having a session with Dr. Lu Le. As such, our responsibilities consisted mostly of directing patients from the general consultation area to Psychiatry or other specialties.

M.E.M.O. Officer Jeffrey Nguyen viewing a patient's eye in the Optometry station.

M.E.M.O. student volunteers, M.E.M.O. providers, and physicians from UMC setting up the Vitals and Consultation stations before patients enter.

Video of Psychiatrist Dr. Lu Le speaking with a patient during a consultation.