News

In August, an important milestone in kidney care took place in Western South Vietnam when the Kien Giang General Hospital (KGH) received its first-ever training courses in general nephrology and dialysis, and brain death donors.

Pre-existing regional challenges

This double-course initiative was significant both for its scope and because it marked the first time clinicians from Western South Vietnam received such comprehensive and localized training. Although Ho Chi Minh City regularly holds training programs, very few clinicians from KGH were previously able to attend.

In addition, some participants had limited exposure to nephrology during their education, having been primarily taught by urologists. Despite having diagnostic tools, they had not previously learned how to approach kidney diseases as thoroughly as they did through this eight-day training.

Expert guidance to achieve clear objectives

Endorsed by the ISN Educational Ambassadors Program (EAP), two distinguished speakers — Huong Tran, a nephrologist, and Du Thi Ngoc Thu, a urologist from the Organ Allocation Unit at Cho Ray Hospital (CRH) — delivered these in-depth courses. The CRH is a designated ISN Regional Training Center.

The objectives of the training were to:

• Equip clinicians to manage common kidney disease effectively, helping to prevent patients from progressing to end-stage kidney disease and reducing the need for transfers to the CRH
• Introduce the application of urine sediment analysis as a tool for diagnosing kidney disease
• Enable clinicians at KGH to successfully diagnose brain death.
• Train healthcare professionals to perform organ resuscitation for potential deceased donors

Participants discuss cases in teams

Hands-on learning experience

The format of the training at Kien Giang General Hospital was designed to maximize practical learning, with 80% of the time dedicated to hands-on practice and 20% to theory. Real case discussions, combined with guided problem-solving from the instructors, allowed the participants to better understand clinical challenges and how to resolve them.

Improved patient care and outcomes

According to Dr. Tran, the training led to several measurable outcomes in patient care:

• Better control of kidney function and hypertension in chronic kidney disease patients
• Improved early diagnosis of AKI
• Shortened hospital stays for inpatients
• More effective pre-dialysis education, reducing the number of acute dialysis patients
• Improved ability to diagnose brain death
• An increase in organ resuscitation for potential deceased donors, leading to more organs being donated

Regional reach and long-term impact

Nephrology course participants came from seven of the twelve cities in Western South Vietnam, including 66 participants from the KGH and neighboring medical centers. The brain death donor course included clinicians from the Kien Giang, An Giang, and Hau Giang regions.

Based on Professor Tran’s guidance, the KGH is planning a study on the prevalence of AKI, which will be presented at the Ho Chi Minh City Urology and Nephrology Meeting.

Huynh Tam from the Department of Nephrology at the KGH commented, “The ISN EAP gave us the chance to learn with the experts to update our knowledge and help us to adjust and change our daily practice.”

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