NEWS Vietnam

WORKSHOP "HEALTHCARE TRENDS AND NEW APPROACHES IN TAIWAN & VIETNAM”

Workshop Poster

On June 27^th, NCKU Overseas Hub in Vietnam became a golden bridge linked the College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP) to organize a Workshop titled “Healthcare Trends and New Approaches in Taiwan and Vietnam”. The virtual Workshop is driven by the purpose of exploring cutting-edge teaching, training methods and research that enhance the healthcare profession, exchange the potential approach in Healthcare and strengthen a robust relationship between Vietnam and Taiwan in innovative teaching methods.

The Workshop receives many remarkable results as it attracts various attendees from different occupations including 31% University Staff, 22% Undergraduate Students, 20% Graduate Students, 9% Hospital, 8% Industry, 8% Highschool Students and 2% Government. This diversity of attendees was a key factor in generating the many noteworthy results and insights that emerged from the Speaker's proceedings.

Participation Occupation

In the opening remarks, Moderator Dr. Ngo Thi Minh Hien, Director of the NCKU Overseas Hub in Vietnam (NCKU OH), outlined the purpose of the Workshop. Dr. Minh Hien hoped this would be an occasion to strengthen the robust relationship between NCKU and UMP.

Moderator Dr. Ngo Thi Minh Hien in the opening remark

The delegate guests from NCKU were Prof. Wei-Shu Lai - Department of Nursing; Prof. Kun-Ling Tsai – Chairman of the Department of Physical Therapy; Assist. Prof. Ken-Chung Chen - Institute of Oral Medicine; Prof. Ming-Yeng Lin - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health; Prof. Chih-Hsing Wu – Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine and from UMP were Prof. Pham Le An - Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Dr. Hoang Trong Hung – Vice Dean of the Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology; Dr. Huynh Thuy Phuong Hong – Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Technology. Dr. Hien expressed her gratitude to all the distinguished guests and invited all to have a group photo.

Group photo

The first session of the Workshop featured a presentation by Prof. Wei-Shu Lai from the Department of Nursing, titled "Hospice Delivery Models and Survival Differences in the Terminally ill." Prof. Lai highlighted the crucial role of nursing in hospice care, emphasizing the significance of nursing expertise and support in end-of-life situations.

Prof. Lai's research got significant results such as a total of 8,874 hospice patients were recruited, the majority of patients were HSC and most of the noncancer HSC patients had relatively higher complex physical, psychosocial, and spiritual issues. Prof. Lai obtained clinical information from Hospice Databank and the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of the patients were measured upon hospice care referring. The variables included basic demographics, type of hospice care, cancer or noncancer diagnosis, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, time when DNR was signed, symptoms, psychosocial and spiritual issues. In conclusion, the study provided guidance regarding the appropriate hospice service model, based on individualized palliative needs, targeting improvement in EOL care. Prof. Lai also showcased her future research which is to establish the effectiveness of these models from early palliative, end-of-life care and bereavement care.

Prof. Wei-Shu Lai with the presentation “Hospice Delivery Models and Survival Differences in the Terminally ill”

The Workshop continued with Dr. Huynh Thuy Phuong Hong from the Faculty of Nursing & Medical Technology, UMP, who presented "Changes of Assessment in Nursing Education after Accreditation at the UMP". Dr. Hong highlighted the significance of continuous professional development in nursing education, emphasizing the importance of adapting to new techniques and procedures. The positive feedback are competency-based, self-direction, self-reflection, students’ engagement and academic consultant.

Dr. Hong presented three different assessments: multiple-choice questions (MCQs), Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), and Workplace-Based Assessment (WBA). Through the use of graphs, Dr. Hong effectively demonstrated the differences in the application and results of these assessments before and after the accreditation process such as formative assessment, summative assessment percentage. Overall, Dr. Hong's presentation provided valuable insights into the transformations in nursing education assessment at the UMP, reflecting the institution's commitment to continuous improvement and alignment with best practices in the field.

Topic “Changes of Assessment in Nursing Education after Accreditation at the UMP” presented by Dr. Huynh Thuy Phuong Hong

The Workshop remained high-energy with Prof. Kun-Ling Tsai's presentation on "Exercise for cancer patients". Prof. Tsai gave a brief definition of physical activity and demonstrated exercises that cancer patients could do to improve their health and well-being. The benefit of exercise could help patients regain strength and improve fatigue, boost mood and mental well-being, reduce cancer-related symptoms, slow tumor growth, etc.

Prof. Tsai's presentation likely highlighted how exercise can be a valuable complementary therapy for patients: reduced cardiac fitness and caused abnormal exercise responses in cardiovascular. The demonstration of specific exercises (aerobic exercise with a treadmill, strengthening exercise with an elastic band) tailored for cancer patients was likely aimed at empowering them to take an active role in their care and recovery. Finally, Prof. Tsai concluded the combined aerobic, resistance and flexibility exercise program may improve physical fitness and HRQoL in H&N cancer patients during chemotherapy and suggested H&N cancer patients improve their cardiovascular physiological responses such as BP, HR, HR recovery, and exercise capacity after 8 weeks of exercise training.

Prof. Kun-Ling Tsai shared research on “Exercise for cancer patients”

The next session featured Dr. Hoang Trong Hung, who presented "Digital Dentistry: Current Challenges in Dental Education", Dr. Hung discussed two big questions “What do our students need to learn” and “What do we want to teach students about our respective areas of specialization”. Dr. Hung indicated that Gen Z became well-versed in technology such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops on a daily basis and got accustomed to being fast, instantly and available 24/7, which is the reason Dr. Hung wished to apply digital dentistry to encourage Gen Z dental students effectively so that to work with Digital Dentistry, new strategies were designed for dental students, support in international collaboration, and international training in order to ensure that authentic innovation can take place and digital dentistry can truly promotes educational growth in all dental students. Dr. Hung mentioned human resources and its importance for faculty implementing digital dentistry into their curriculum.

Dr. Hung introduced how he applied new technology in dental education to supervise the students and share meaningful results that instructors and faculty members must be influenced by digital workflow, willing to adopt new technology, recruit and retain well-trained faculty members to take on roles in digital dentistry, utilization, and instructions are crucial. The young staff was expected to be the potential generation, hence international training for them was in place, leading to the module of digital dentistry in the new dental curriculum. Five phases of the elective digital dentistry module for undergraduates in Vietnam were introduced, including online course, content co-building, online survey, developing syllabus, and getting approval, thereby Vietnamese students can comprehend the Digital Dentistry concept. The blueprint of a competence-based curriculum for doctor of odonto-stomatology was well demonstrated by year, encompassing dental education, dental research and clinical application. 

Dr. Hoang Trong Hung in the Workshop and the topic “Digital Dentistry: Current Challenges in Dental Education”

Assist. Prof. Ken-Chung Chen delighted the Workshop with his presentation on "Teacher's New Challenge: Mastering Presentation Skills to Supervise Students Effectively". Assist. Prof. Ken-Chung Chen delivered an insightful talk that explored effective techniques for creating compelling presentations. Assist. Prof. Chen shared research-backed strategies for enhancing audience engagement and interactivity. His data-driven approach clearly illustrated key findings through the use of charts, graphs, and numerical evidence. The logical flow and visual aids in his presentation highlighted the importance of leveraging multimedia to enhance the impact of presentation skills.

Assist. Prof. Chen provided three results: the first one was instructors are more confident in their basic presentation skills, students consider themselves better at making slides while instructors excel in structuring content; the second result showed students believe that the current guidance method does not necessarily need to change and are less motivated to learn presentation skills; instructors think the guidance method should be reconsidered and are more motivated to improve their presentation-related skills. Finally, Assist. Prof. Chen encouraged other researchers to take public speaking courses and continually practice and refine, their skills to improve the quality of their presentations and audience engagement. Overall, Professor Chen's Workshop session provided valuable guidance for educators seeking to optimize their presentation skills and connect more effectively with students. His expertise and dynamic delivery style were widely praised by attendees.

Assist. Prof. Ken-Chung Chen enthusiastically shared the research on “Teacher's New Challenge: Mastering Presentation Skills to Supervise Students Effectively”

Prof. Pham Le An enthusiastically presented his topic titled "Smart Commune Health Center: A Promising Solution for Climate Change in Planetary Health." These centers proposed leveraging digital technologies and renewable energy, alongside integrated care models, to establish resilient and sustainable healthcare infrastructure at the community level. Key features highlighted by Prof. An included the roles within the community-based care model: the community itself providing patient lists, Team 1 monitoring remotely, Team 2 delivering field emergency care, and tertiary hospitals supporting through their emergency rooms and intensive care units. Additionally, Prof. An initiated a discussion on rethinking primary care, advocating for the transformation of the current model into a patient-centered medical home.

Prof. An provided an overview of the development of various terms and concepts, such as the history of public health, which emerged as a discipline in the mid-19th century in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Prof. discussed the evolution of international health, which has become more focused on diseases, and conditions, and has a tendency to denote a one-way flow of good ideas, while also being more concerned with national issues. Finally, Prof. An highlighted the more recent concept of global health, which emphasizes a broader scope of health problems and solutions.

Topic “Smart Commune Health Center: A Promising Solution for Climate Change in Planetary Health” presented by Prof. Pham Le An

The Workshop continued with Prof. Chih-Hsing Wu demonstrating "Effect of Osteoporotic Fracture and Anti-Osteoporotic Treatment in Mortality". Prof. Wu presented his findings on the impact of osteoporotic fractures on mortality rates and the effectiveness of anti-osteoporotic treatments. Prof. Wu introduced the event Asia-Pacific Consensus on Long-term and sequential therapy for osteoporosis, its goal was to lower the primary & secondary fragility fracture risks in Asia-Pacific region

Prof. Wu described this real-world mega-data base study showing that AOMs are significantly associated with lowered risk for all-cause mortality, cancer mortality and CVD mortality, after hip or vertebral fractures in older and oldest-old adults; the longer duration of taking AOMs, the lowered risk for all-cause mortality after hip or vertebral fractures.

Prof. Chih-Hsing Wu presented “Effect of Osteoporotic Fracture and Anti-Osteoporosis Treatment on Mortality from Taiwan to Asia-Pacific Regions”

The final session featured a highly informative presentation by Prof. Ming-Yeng Lin on the topic of "Improving Hospital Air Quality through Source Control". Prof. Lin underscored the critical importance of maintaining optimal air quality within healthcare settings. Prof. Lin emphasized the advantages of leveraging air curtains and negative ion technology to significantly reduce smoke concentration in the operating room where an air curtain is installed beneath the surgical and negative ions are applied to electrosurgical pencils.

The experimental setup and methods of the two instrument installments were introduced. Through the research findings, Prof. Lin provided compelling evidence demonstrating the efficacy of these interventions. Specifically, Prof. Lin reported that the two generations of air curtains can achieve reductions of over 90% in particle number concentration and over 95% in PM_2.5 mass concentration. Negative ions can significantly reduce the surgical smoke concentration and the Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk values generally. The measured ozone concentration when using the ionizer was 4.81, well below the Taiwan indoor air quality standard. Both approaches also minimize noise levels and are economically feasible compared to evacuation pencil and wall suction. These substantial improvements in air quality have important implications for enhancing patient safety and protecting the health of medical staff.

Prof. Ming-Yeng Lin introduced “Improving Hospital Air Quality through Source Control”

A lively question-and-answer session happened at the end of each session, where participants actively engaged with the panelists, asking questions and seeking further insights on the presented topics. The questions were: For Prof. Wei-Shu Lai: Are these special terminal illnesses that clearly show greater survival differences based on the hospice delivery model used? Are there qualitative data or patient testimonials that could provide additional insights from the patient’s perspective? For Dr. Huynh Thuy Phuong Hong: Were there any specific or traditional course modules altered after accreditation, What feedback have students provided regarding the changes in assessment methods after accreditation? Are there any innovative assessment tools or platforms adopted to enhance learning and evaluation? For Prof. Kun-Ling Tsai: how can healthcare supervisors ensure exercise is performed safely without exacerbating any side effects of treatment? what common barriers do cancer patients face when trying to exercise, and how can they overcome them? For Dr. Hoang Trong Hung: What common concerns or suggestions do students have regarding their education in digital dentistry? What obstacles do students face when transitioning from digital simulations to real-world clinical practice? Assist. Prof. Ken-Chung Chen: how important are effective body language, vocal modulation, and professional demeanor in projecting confidence and authority as a teacher leading a presentation or classroom session? For Prof. Pham Le An: what are some key strategies and technologies that smart commune health centers can implement to reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact? why do you choose a Commune Health Center instead of a large Hospital? For Prof. Chih-Hsing Wu: what are some of the key barriers or challenges to ensuring optimal uptake and adherence to anti-osteoporosis treatments, and how can these be addressed? how to prevent osteoporotic fractures specifically from a young age? Is there any diet recommendation? Prof. Ming-Yeng Lin: how can hospitals ensure proper maintenance and operation of source control systems to maintain their effectiveness over time? Are negative ions already in the market place that we can buy that product internationally?

Viewers’ Country

The event was a resounding success, attracting a significant number of 364 viewers through the live-streaming platforms on Webex Cisco and Facebook. Participants from various countries: Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, India, Thailand, Pakistan tuned in to witness the informative and thought-provoking discussions on the latest trends and innovations in healthcare education and research. The event received enthusiastic support from many institutions, organizations, and social media channels.