International Rotations - Thailand

Submitted by
Dr. Joshua Murphy
(Frontier Resident)

This spring, I had the pleasure to experience Thailand on a month-long international medical rotation with a group of three medical students and one faculty from my alma mater. For one of these weeks, we taught hands-on Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) skills to about 20 physicians and advanced practitioners in attendance at an international conference. Some of the skills included the eFAST and RUSH exams, BLUE protocol, cardiac, abdominal, MSK, ocular, and even OB POCUS on four live models. For another week, we visited one of the Thai medical schools and taught 40 Thai medical students some of these same POCUS skills, though at a more introductory level.

For the rest of our time, we rotated through the university hospital’s Family Medicine and Pediatric clinics where we learned about the similarities and differences between the practice of medicine in Thailand compared to the United States. For a few days, they took us to their alternative medicine clinic where they practice both Thai and Chinese Traditional Medicine. It was here that we received exposure to acupuncture, cupping, herbal medicine, body exercises/contortions, and Thai Traditional Massage.

Perhaps the most impactful part of the trip though was getting to know the Thai people. Whether that be the physicians and medical students at the clinics or the local neighbors at the street market, everyone was so polite and had unique life stories to share. Even when we made mistakes attempting to speak some basic Thai phrases, they were very gracious in correcting us… that is, after a good laugh of course.