On
the occasion of Vietnam Physicians’ Day on February 27, Tuoi Tre News did an
exclusive interview with Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon, CEO of FV hospital based in
Ho Chi Minh City, about the talents and skills of Vietnamese hospital staff.
As
we know, FV is not the leading hospital for tumor treatment in Vietnam and
American surgeon McKay McKinnon had claimed that the success rate of the
surgery on Mr. Nguyen Duy Hai is only 50 percent. Why did FV take the risk not
only in admitting Hai, but also in assistting Dr. McKinnon to operate on him?
Actually FV Hospital has a very active
oncology department called Hy Vong where hundreds of cancer patients are
treated, and many undergo surgery as well, so even though FVH is not “the”
leading hospital for tumor treatment it is a facility of experienced doctors.
The patient Duy Hai had a very special kind of tumor not only because of its
size but also because of its location. We could foresee the technical
difficulties of removing it, but none of the FVH surgeons had direct experience
with such a tumor. They did, however, know enough to efficiently assist an
experienced surgeonlike Dr McKinnon.
Beside the surgical difficulties we knew that
many problems could occur and that the anesthesiologists would be under
pressure. They are all very experienced and I had no doubt that they could
handle the challenge.
Finally FVH has a very modern operating
theatre with a professional nursing team, and all the necessary equipment,
including a cell-saver (used to recover the blood of the patient and therefore
minimize blood transfusions), as well as a superb intensive care unit, so there
was no reason to refuse the case.
Could
you describe the process of selecting doctors for this high-risk surgery?
Dr Desvignes, FV’s medical director, asked two
of our general surgeons, Dr Phan Văn Thái and Dr Nguyễn Quốc Thái to assist Dr.
McKinnon. They were selected based on their competency - they both have a lot
of experience. The whole anesthesiology team worked together to assess the
patient prior to surgery, prepare him for the procedure, support him during the
procedure, monitor the recovery and took care of him in ICU.
Did
you worry before the tumor removal? What were your scenarios for the removal?
You always worry a little bit but honestly I was
quite confident. I didn’t have specific scenarios: I knew the procedure would
take more than 12 hours and that the patient would have to go to the ICU
afterwards for a few days.
FV only charged Hai’s family VND252 million
(around US$12,000) for the surgery and post-operative care. What about the
actual cost? Who will pay the additional charges?
The total cost for Mr Hai was about $20,000
and the hospital finances the difference.
After
the surgery, what is your opinion of the skills or talent of the Vietnamese
doctors and nurses who were involved in the case?
My opinion hasn’t changed: they are excellent
doctors and the nursing staff has reached, for quite a number of years, a level
of professionalism that is comparable to the best centers overseas.
As
the director of the hospital, what is the general criteria for FV’s selection
of Vietnamese hospital staff (doctors and nurses)?
All doctors’ applications are reviewed by the
Professional Oversight Committee. Doctors with experience, preferably having
been trained overseas, having already demonstrated their skills in other
hospitals, with a good reputation, speaking either French or English or both,
are the ones we recruit at FV. Our intent has always been to build a solid
professional medical team composed of the best Vietnamese doctors. We also
think of the future and this is why we have an agreement with the HCMC Medical
University and welcome younger doctors who want to be trained at FV. Some of
them will work at FV later in their career. For nurses we favor nurses with
experience but also recruit younger ones (we have an agreement with the nursing
school of the university and receive many trainees each year) because we have
an intensive training program at FV.
From
your time in Vietnam, what do you think about the professional skills of
Vietnamese doctors and nurses in comparison to those in France?
In Vietnam, like elsewhere, you have good and
less good doctors. Vietnamese doctors, especially those who have been lucky
enough to spend time in a foreign country, have similar skills to those of
French doctors. They sometimes lack experience in the more recent techniques
which are not yet introduced in Vietnam. Nurses in Vietnam have very good
skills too, initially when we opened FV, all the head nurses were French but
now all the head nurses at FV are Vietnamese. They were selected from the best
nurses, promoted to team leaders then reached the position of head nurse. This
demonstrates that Vietnamese nurses are very good.
How
about training programs for Vietnamese doctors and nurses at FV? Are the
programs regular or not? Does FV retrain Vietnamese doctors in Vietnam or
abroad?
FV has a continuous medical education program
for its doctors, who are also encouraged to attend seminars and conferences,
and learn new skills. Every year several of our doctors go to a foreign
country, often France, to learn new techniques. This year, for example, all our
imaging doctors will have spent 2 months in a specialized MRI centre to learn
everything about MRI. We also have 2 nurse trainers at FV and run a
comprehensive training program for our nurses and midwives.
As
a Western doctor, how do you define Y đức (medical ethics) in FV’s slogan Niềm
tin vào Y đức (Belief in Medical Ethics) on display everywhere in the hospital?
Medical ethics is a system of moral principles
that apply to the practice of medicine. It is reflected in the FVH Code of Ethics
that all doctors commit to respect when working for FV. The main principles
are:
- Consider the health and well-being of the patient to be your first
priority.
- Treat your patient with compassion and respect.
- Practice the science and art of medicine to the best of your ability,
in full moral independence, with compassion and respect for human dignity.
- Adhere to the scientific basis for medical practice while acknowledging
the limits of current knowledge.
- Strive to improve your knowledge and skills through continuing self
education to improve your standard of medical care so that the best possible
advice and treatment can be offered to the patient.
- Ensure that all people in your employ are fully aware of the
appropriate actions to be taken in cases of medical emergency.
It’s impossible for the majority of the
popultation in the developing country like Vietnam to pay a large quantity of
money to receive the high-quality health care services provided by FV. Is it
hazardous to invest in an international hospital in Vietnam?
Investing in a modern hospital was a challenge
when we did it more than 10 years ago but now we see more than 200,000 patients
a year, 80% of them are Vietnamese, and the numbers are growing each year.
What’s
your biggest satisfaction while ‘commercializing’ the hospital in Vietnam?
The vision we had 10 years ago turned out to
be a reality: FV is a modern hospital providing high-quality medical care at a
reasonable price to a majority of Vietnamese patients and this care is provided
by a strong team of Vietnamese doctors and nurses.
Did
FV launch any charity programs?
We have a lot of charitable activities and the
hospital has co-created a charitable fund called Children of Vietnam, which is
very active.
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