Two prospective doctors from CUHK undertook a trip to Cambodia at the start of summer to learn from experience and help those in need, amid the many travel restrictions posed by COVID.

Tiffany Sham and Tayyab Shahzada, Year 6 medical students from the Global Physician-Leadership Stream, went to Cambodia on a trip organised by the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response and the GX Foundation to learn about the country’s medical scene, run public education programmes and receive clinical training. The pair, who both have a long-term interest in humanitarian work, embarked on the learning and serving journey under the auspices of CCOUC Humanitarian Scholarships and other awards.

The duo joined the Foundation’s team on a visit to Prey Veng Provincial Hospital and the site for the Foundation’s cataract blindness elimination programme in Cambodia, where they presented updates on the initiative to the hospital chief and others. They surveyed the local healthcare system and conducted community education activities on vector-borne diseases at hospitals and health centres.

The hospitals Sham and Shahzada worked in provide general, specialist and emergency care, while the health centres specialise in primary care, family planning, and maternal and child health. Such institutions are crucial community contact points that channel public health information.