2011 Mission Trip to Cambodia
from Pamela Wong, Pharmacy Class of 2013
Today, was our 2nd day at the hospital. We rode the tuk-tuks there. These are super fun to ride in although it can be dangerous considering the way Cambodians drive. (Although there are traffic signs/laws in place, you will often see people going against traffic and driving super close to each other.) Anyways, in the Sihanouk hospital, I was in the main pharmacy with two other pharmacy students, Rachel and Dan. We learned about the pharmacy work flow process. It was quite interesting to learn that there was an actual messenger that would drop off printed labels to the pharmacy from the Community Medical Center (CMC), which is another hospital across the street. He would then pick it up to deliver it back to the pharmacists at CMC to dispense. In addition, we learned that everyone in the pharmacy is a pharmacist so there are no pharmacy technicians. They are in school for 5 years. There are only 2 pharmacy schools; one is taught in English, and the other in French. In the pharmacy, there is also a separate section of the pharmacy that had medications for only HIV/AIDS patients since that is prevalent in Cambodia.

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2011 Mission Trip to Cambodia
from Suzanne Hutson, Nursing Student
It is Friday night here! We are leaving for the temples in the morning and I couldn’t be more excited for our weekend trip! I named this entry BEAUtiful because all I see here is beauty. The people, the country, the river, the sky, the smiles….EVERYTHING. I enjoy watching and taking in all of the beauty around me. Whenever I get the chance I just watch. Today I was especially taken by these beautiful people. We did check-offs at the hospital today for the nurses. We sat and listened to them tell us various nursing procedures in English. This is not an easy task especially with words such as catheter and manometer! The nurses look forward to this every year and are very anxious and excited. I am so grateful that I got to participate.
I fell in love more and more with each interaction with the Cambodians. They are beautiful inside and outside. I told Mrs. Taplin that I had not seen a single Cambodian who did not have a captivating, precious smile. She said that this was the land of smiles and it sure is! The people are accepting, genuine, welcoming, warm, loving, smart, and beautiful! Not only did I appreciate the time we had to serve the Cambodian nurses today with check-offs but I am so thankful for our time in the clinical setting. While waiting on patients we get to sit and talk. The nurses know some English and are always eager to learn more. They are so smart and I have learned so much from them. Drawing blood from someone who does not speak English was painful for me. I kept asking the nurse to make sure she was ok! You make instant friends with the people and when I see them a second time we hug and they say, “hi Suzan”, as I try to discretely look at their name tag to attempt pronouncing their name. So Dina and Navy say hi to the 2010 team!
Lastly I will add that they are a very expressive people. As we ride to the hospital in the mornings on the tuk tuks I see such a wide range of expressions. I end by simply saying that I am in love with these people! I LOVE CAMBODIA!