Electives in Vietnam

Vietnam is a great choice if you want to get a range of clinical experiences. You can spend some time in departments like OBG, NICU, cardiovascular, orthopaedics, surgery, and paediatrics. Following the theme of broadening your experiences, you can also shadow doctors to learn more about the healthcare system as a whole. Moving back to departments, you can undertake your clinical placement in A&E, psychiatry, oncology, gastrointestinal endoscopy, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility centre — whatever takes your interest. As with Work the World's other destinations, you can actually split your placement across multiple departments, so ask us about this when you enquire.

In Hue, you can spend time in A&E, OBG, internal medicine, and general and orthopaedic surgery among others. Oncology is particularly insightful. Modern ‘Western’ medicine remains unregulated in some areas, so you could even see cases of arsenic poisoning in infants who have ingested unregulated baby formula. You may also see cases like chronic malnutrition in paediatric patients, and high volumes of patients involved in RTAs. As of 2024, you can also rotate in our partner hospital's dermatology department. 

If you compare Vietnam to the UK, Vietnam has a high infant mortality rate. But in the last ten years, local specialists have done a lot of work to bring the numbers down. While you’re on placement here, you’ll spend time in our partner hospital’s OBG department, where you’ll see this work being done. You can get involved in areas like prenatal and postnatal care, and live births. In the birthing unit, you can see how differently local midwives approach breech births, pre-eclamptic shock and undersized babies. You can also get experience in the ‘high risk unit’ where staff treat mothers with diabetes, hypertension, abnormal bleeding and miscarriages.

You'll do your physiotherapy placement in the rehabilitation department of Work the World's partner hospital. The department houses physiotherapy, speech therapy and OT. Physiotherapy is the largest of the three areas, with a busy outpatient service. You’ll see a lot of patients from some of Vietnam’s most economically disadvantaged areas. The caseload is diverse and will prove eye-opening. You’ll see post-surgical patients, paediatric patients, and patients presenting with cerebral palsy (and other neurological conditions), spinal conditions (including spina bifida), and severe burns. You can also get involved in clinical rounds and even emergency consultations.

Choose Hue for your biomedical science placement, and you could get specialised lab experience in areas like microbiology, haematology, and immunology, among others. Our partner university hospital even hosts a Medical Science degree, so local staff are experienced not only in practising but also in teaching the discipline. Time in oncology could prove particularly insightful, and you can see the results of a lack of regulation in cases like arsenic poisoning in infants who have ingested unregulated baby formula.

Work the World's partner hospital's A&E department in Vietnam will let you see cases like RTAs, trauma, and unfamiliar diseases. Many patients travel in from some of Vietnam’s most rural areas, so the patient demographic is mixed. You’ll also see how modern practises complement ancient traditions.

Your radiography placement in Hue takes place in a busy radiography department spanning three floors. You’ll find the MRI and CT scan units on the ground floor. This floor is mostly for inpatients who have had head trauma, a stroke, or are suffering from cancer. Inpatient X-rays are on the first floor, which also has a busy sonography area. The second floor deals with outpatient X-rays, and this floor also has its own sonography area. You’ll see some fascinating cases and practises while you’re here, like injecting contrast into patients’ biliary tracts through the ribs while under X-ray instead of CT.

If you spend time in Work the World's partner institution in Hue, you'll learn how a Vietnamese hospital pharmacy runs from top to bottom. The way this works is through participation. You’ll help dispense outpatient medicine, help take stock of pharmaceutical supplies, provide drug information, refer to patient records, and visit specialised wards — like oncology and cardiology — to see what role the Vietnamese pharmacist plays. You can choose to get some experience in the renal pharmacy, the OPD pharmacy, the drug stores, the inpatient department pharmacy, or all of the above.