A few words from our visiting fellows:
Charlotte Dirven
Belgium
LeiHo,
I am a specialist trainee in anesthesia at the Cliniques Universitaires de Saint-Luc, Brussels (Université Catholique de Louvain), Belgium. I am in my final year of training and had the opportunity to spend six wonderful months in the anaesthesiology dept of Prince Of Wales Hospital, NT, Hong Kong. First of all, I appreciated the kindness and benevolence of the anesthesia team. Everyone was very welcoming and I was well helped by the department’s secretaries for all my administrative stuff. This was a stressful part for me and I was finally amazed by the speed and efficiency of the Hong Kong Administration in the medical sector. Although our cultures are different, anesthesia is quite universal and I was able to quickly find my way around. I found it was very interesting for me to see different ways of practicing it, even for some small details who actually can make tiny differences . Everyone has their own technique and it was quite interesting to discover some new ones, and this at every stage of our traineeship. I will cherish those new little addings in my future career.
What also interested and challenged me, was the different pathologies encountered. I was also able to observe and learn to juggle with the anesthesiological differences and their management between asian patients versus caucasians (intubations difficulties, neuraxial anesthesia, the modified pharmacokinetics of some molecules,and also the behavorial differences…)
I had the opportunity to work in quiet all surgical sectors with the adequate supervision, each time, and I always could relay on my fellow assistants for some tips or some translations.
Regarding the language, the entire medical team is fluent in English and I have always been helped to converse with patients who only spoke cantonese in the operating rooms, as well as in the medical wards. On this point some days were more challenging than others (according to patient’s past health and actual medical problems) but that’s part of the experience, and I think I always got away with it.
Also, I loved living in Hong Kong so much. This region has a lot to offer and my weekends were so full by many explorations. HK fascinated me with its traditional aspect combined to its great modernity and open-mindedness.
I am very happy to have had the opportunity to do my overseas internship in Hong Kong.
I wouldn’t hesitate for a second if I had to do it again.
Joe Ong
Australia
I went to Prince of Wales Hospital as a senior trainee having completed my ANZCA fellowship exams. I wanted to broaden my anesthesia experience as I have otherwise completed the rest of my training in Australia. The Prince of Wales anaesthesia department were very welcoming and supportive. My supervisor help tailor my experience with more hepatobiliary and cardiac anaesthesia. All the medical records were in English and I had plenty of translation help as most healthcare staff members are bilingual. I also managed to write up a case report on an interesting airway case performed under VV-ECMO. I am extremely grateful for my time at Prince of Wales. I also had a lot of fun experiencing the sights and culinary highlights of Hong Kong.