The necessity of a Medical Vietnamese Class to teach second generation Vietnamese youths is more prominent than ever. As the 1.5 and 2nd generation grow up in America, the Vietnamese language is slowly being diluted. However, the number of immigrants coming from Vietnam is still rising. Additionally, as the older generation age, they require physicians to care for them in a culturally appropriate manner and physicians capable to address their specific ethnographic perception of disease. The best way to treat patients is to understand their heritage…at the core, to understand, know, and communicate the language.
So, here we are faced with a problem…the Vietnamese language needs to be taught to students, but how?
Months ago, Brian Luong approached me with the possibility of starting up a Medical Vietnamese class around the nation with the help of the Vietnamese American Medical Association (VAMA). I contacted Dr. Nguyen Dong Quan, a prominent retina surgeon at Johns Hopkins and the President of VAMA, about this idea.
Yet, Dr. Nguyen suggested a problem…Physicians are busy and might not be able teach a course regularly. Students are busy and may not have time to attend additional, optional courses.
Then, Dr. Nguyen recommended digitalizing everything! In this information area, it’s easy to get everything online. His suggestion: get the courses online!
So here we are, two months later…YOUTUBE!
My cousin, Michelle P. Pham, and I put our heads together to come up with a plan that is sustainable and present the videos clearly. A completely free YouTube series on Medical Vietnamese. With the help of Dr. Luan Nguyen, a plastic surgeon in Huntington Beach, we were able to put together 3 videos on the Vocabulary associated with taking a medical history. We are in the process of making more, and we would love your input, advice, and help!
Get involved in the cutting-edge project?
If you’re interested in getting involved in this project to bring the Vietnamese language onto YouTube and help expand the medical profession, log onto http://onevietnam.org and contact me (Isabella Lai, username: isabellangalai). We’ll discuss topics relating to medical care in the Vietnamese community and how to improve the current videos.
Here, you can view the promo video:
Brilliant, Isabella!