Tu being chased away
Graduated from Quang Nam Medical College in 2011, Nguyen Van Truc volunteered to work in Phuoc Thanh commune, Phuoc Son district, Quang Nam.
At that time, Phuoc Thanh was a "white commune in terms of health care", with more than 2,500 people (95% being ethnic minorities), rampant diseases and extremely poor health care. Many people still believe in priests and shamans rather than going to health stations for treatment.
Mr. Truc said that on the day he first started working, the health station was just a small house with a corrugated iron roof, wooden walls and goods, and poor medical equipment. Every month, he has to travel nearly 60km of forest road to the District Medical Center to receive medicine, then "carry" the medicine back to the station to serve the people.
In 2020, a terrible storm and flood swept through Phuoc Thanh commune, sweeping away the small house that the couple had worked hard to build. The health station was eroded, houses around the station were swept away... The road from the commune to the village was cut off, sometimes for a whole week.
Suffering and lacking, he was determined to stay, because he understood that if he left, the people would have no one to take care of him.
Mr. Ho Van Phuc - Chairman of Phuoc Thanh Commune People's Committee - said that more than 10 years ago, the Commune Health Station made of wood had only 2 rooms, lacking staff, equipment, and medicine. Therefore, every time a disease occurs, it is easy to break out into an epidemic, especially an epidemic that is easily spread such as: Chills, diphtheria.
At first, when doctor Truc visited the hospital, he was rejected by the villagers many times, and even chased away. But with perseverance, dedication and even taking risks of his life to treat patients, he gradually gained the trust of the people.
Together with my wife - also a colleague at the health station, they stay in the village, village, go to each house to encourage people to check-up, get vaccinated, and prevent epidemics every day" - Mr. Phuc said.
Coming to the village's people
Not only treating diseases, medical practitioner Truc is also a pioneer in promoting the change of awareness of people about health, helping people gradually overcome the curse of the god, overcome bad customs and outdated customs.
If in the past, women in the village were afraid to go to health stations during pregnancy, now they have proactively had periodic pregnancy check-ups and given birth at the station with the support of health workers. Children were once neglected to be vaccinated, now parents voluntarily take their children for full vaccination.
Those changes are not only the result of one person but also the tireless efforts of me and my colleagues - Mr. Truc shared.
Doctor Truc is an outstanding son of the village. When he first arrived, he was distant, but now, the people trust and rely on him. He is not only a doctor but also a brother and son in our family - village elder Ho Van Xuyen emotionally shared.
Doctor Nguyen Huu Long - Director of Phuoc Son District Medical Center - said that many times he wanted to send medical practitioner Truc to higher education or transfer him to work in the district to reduce difficulties, but the local government and the people loved and enthusiastically held him back. He also wanted to stay in this land for a long time, because for him, this place had become his second homeland.
