Over the past week, many doctors from the Da Nang Cancer Hospital has become familiar with highly respected their ‘teacher’: Vietnamese American Dr Dinh Anh Tri whose hometown is in the city. 

Dr Tri (3rd right) and doctors from the city’s Cancer Hospital

Dr Tri, who is in his 50s, is a gynecologic oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, the US.  The renowned doctor is now staying in Da Nang to share his experience with his colleagues from the city’s Cancer Hospital.

Dr Tri has initiated an international gynecologic oncologist training programme which were taught by many internationally renowned experts from the US, Singapore and Canada.  

Da Nang is the only city in the Southeast Asian region, and one of the 5 localities worldwide to deploy the meaningful programme over the next 2 years.

Under this programme, doctors from the Cancer Hospital will have an opportunity to conduct their diagnosis exchanges with their experienced colleagues from the foreign countries through an online international system.

Dr Tri is the third son of Dr Dinh Van Tung who was a prominent Vietnamese physician in Da Nang. 
In the early 1960’s, Dr Tung was one of the first Vietnamese physicians who went to the US for training.  He attended the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore on a fellowship.  After returning to his hometown in Da Nang, he was promoted to director of the former Da Nang Medical Centre, the forerunner of the existing Da Nang General Hospital.

Most notably, in 1999, Dr Tung launched Project TVD (Team of Volunteer Doctors) which featured a trip by 3 physicians from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) to lecture in Da Nang.  It continues today by his children; honouring this legacy-the name of the Project which includes his initials. 

After the passing of Dr Tung in 2003, his 4 children continued the work with Da Nang General Hospital in memory of their beloved father.  The respect and friendship that their father had established with the city’s physicians helped tremendously in maintaining this effort.  Therefore, it has facilitated the continued cooperation between the American and Vietnamese physicians.

Over the past 18 years, Project TVD has expanded and developed into an annual activity which brings foreign volunteer physicians to Da Nang with the goal to enhance the local healthcare service through both education and direct patient care.

Under the project, for a week annually, Project TVD doctors work alongside their Vietnamese colleagues to enhance the knowledge of local healthcare professionals and provide direct patient care to indigent patients.  This is an all-volunteer activity- the physicians volunteer their time, and pay for all of their expenses. Commonly, physicians combine their work week with several days of vacation in Viet Nam or surrounding countries of Southeast Asia.

Dr Tri giving surgical instructions at the Cancer Hospital

Dr Tri has assumed the responsibility of organising Project TVD every year, and has returned to Da Nang annually since 1999.  In addition to coordinating the logistics for the physician teams, Dr Tri has also coordinated elective rotations for medical students to learn in Da Nang.  He has also conducted research along with local Vietnamese colleagues.  Their research centres on knowledge and acceptability of the HPV vaccine as well as understanding how patients make medical decisions within the context of local culture and customs.

Thanks to such project, the wonderful legacy of Dr Tung, many doctors in Da Nang have accessed the world’s advanced medical techniques and continuously enhanced their professional skills for the sake of the progress of the city’s health care sector.

Over the past years, Dr Tri has always nurtured his strong passion for making great dedication to his hometown’s progress, and this has made him feel very happy.