Doctor to Doctor, in collaboration with psychiatric leaders in Vietnam, held two very successful conferences in Vietnam in March 2004. One conference was held in Ho Chi Minh City, the other in Hanoi. 175 Vietnamese health care professionals attended in HCMC, 150 in Hanoi. Both conferences were organized and produced by Doctor to Doctor under the direction of Robert Dolgoff MD.

We brought together a group of 15 American faculty members, three staff members, and five guests. Many of us traveled to Asia together and did some touring in Vietnam after the conferences. A list of the attendees can be found at the end of this report.

The first of the two meetings was held on March 15 and 16, 2004 at the Mental Health Center, 192 Ham Tu Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese Conference Director for this event was Lam Xuan Dien MD, Director of the Mental Health Center. 175 Vietnamese mental health professionals, mostly psychiatrists, attended. We had two full days of lectures. The lectures by the American presenters were translated in to Vietnamese; lectures given in Vietnamese were translated into English. Lively discussions followed.

PROGRAM: HO CHI MINH CITY

Monday March 15, Morning

• Robert Dolgoff MD, Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease
• Lam Xuan Dien MD: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Population Who Lived In the War Region in Ho Chi Minh City Before 1975.
  -Break with refreshments
  
• Barnett Meyers MD: Mood Disorders in Late Life Depression: Epidemiology, Course, and Treatment
• Phuong Thuy Le MD: Packed for Life III - Women and Life
• Questions and Discussion of the Morning Topics

• Sherra Stewart-Rego RN: Dignity, Comfort, Psychological Well-Being and the Role of Psychiatry at the End of Life
  -Break with refreshments
• George Stewart MD: The Circle: Group Therapy for Adolescents

• Joan Sullivan MD: Improving Outcome in the Treatment of Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Other Interventions
  -Break with refreshments
• Kenneth Rand MD: Infections of the Central Nervous System

• Cheryl Kennedy MD: Triple Trouble- HIV, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse
• Dr. Ngo Tich Linh: The Symptoms and Treatment of Manic Episodes in Bipolar Disorder
  -Break with refreshments
• Roy Sanders MD: Diagnosis and Treatment of Developmental Disabilities
• Cynthia Nguyen MD: Anxiety Disorders in the Elderly
• Questions and Discussion of the Morning Topics

Lunch

Tuesday March 16, Afternoon:

Room 1:

• Rima Dolgoff-Kaspar BA: Spirituality and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
  -Break with refreshments
• 1430-1515; Hilary Goldstine PhD: Forensic Psychiatry - Allegations of Impairment in Physicians, Cognitive and Psychodynamic Approaches

Room 2:

• Daniel Goldstine PhD: What Hypnosis Teaches About How the Brain Works
  -Break with refreshments
• 1430-1515: Poki Stewart Namkung MD, MPH: Health for All: The Elimination of Health Disparities in the United States.

PROGRAM: HANOI:

The Hanoi portion of the conference was held on March 18-19, 2004 at the Kim Lien Hotel, 7 Dao Duy Anh Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi. 151 Vietnamese psychiatrists attended, coming from 28 different sites throughout the North. The Conference Director in the north was Tran Viet Nghi MD, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Tran Viet Luc MD and Ngo Thanh Hoi MD were our interpreters.

Thursday March 18:

Registration, welcome and Introductions

• Robert Dolgoff MD: Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease
• Rima Dolgoff-Kaspar BA: Spirituality and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
• George Stewart MD: Group Therapy for Adolescents
• Roy Sanders MD: Diagnosis and Treatment of Developmental Disabilities
• Barnett Meyers MD Mood Disorders in Late Life Depression: Epidemiology, Course, and Treatment

Lunch for American delegates at Le Mayeur, Horison Hotel

• Kenneth Rand MD: Infections of the Central Nervous System
• Poki Stewart-Namkung MD MPH: Health for All:The Elimination of Health Disparities in the United States
• Sherra Stewart-Rego RN: Dignity, Comfort, Psychological Well-Being and the Role of Psychiatry at the End of Life
• Le Phuong-Thuy MD Packed for Life III - Women and Life
• Cheryl Kennedy MD: Triple Trouble: HIV, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse
• Cynthia Nguyen MD: Anxiety Disorders in the Elderly

Friday March 19:

• Hilary Goldstine PhD: Forensic Psychiatry - Allegations of Impairment in Physicians, Cognitive and Psychodynamic Approaches
• Joan Sullivan MD: Improving Outcome in the Treatment of Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Other Interventions
• Daniel Goldstine PhD: Hypnosis and What It Teaches Us About the Brain
• Tran Viet Nghi MD: Psychiatry in Vietnam
• Nguyen Minh Tuan MD: Comparing Efficacy of Naltrexone and Methadone Treatment for Opioid Dependence in the First Six months at the NIMH in Hanoi Vietnam
• Nguyen Viet Thiem MD: Psychiatric Education in Vietnam
• Tran Van Cuong MD: Report on Psychiatric Services in Vietnam
• Tran Hun Binh MD: Somatic Depression in 63 Patients
• Group Discussion / Questions and Answers

Lunch at Kim Lien Hotel

Visit to Bach Mai Hospital and National Institute of Mental Health

Fourth Conference -- Faculty:

• Robert Dolgoff MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco
• Lam Xuan Dien MD, Director, Mental Health Center, Ho Chi Minh City
• Barnett Meyers MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University School of Medicine
• Phuong Thuy Le MD, Private Practice, San Jose CA
• Sherra Stewart-Rego RN, Yale University School of Medicine
• George Stewart MD. Chief of Psychiatry, Seneca Center, San Francisco
• Joan Sullivan MD, Senior Staff Psychiatrist Berkeley Therapy Institute, Berkeley CA
• Kenneth Rand MD, Professor of Medicine, University of Florida School of Medicine, Gainesville FL
• Cheryl Kennedy MD, Professor of Psychiatry, New Jersey School of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark NJ
• Ngo Thic Linh, Psychiatrist, Mental Health Center, Ho Chi Minh City
• Roy Sanders MD, Chief of Psychiatry, The Marcus Center, Atlanta GA
• Cynthia Nguyen MD, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Rima Dolgoff-Kaspar, Graduate Student, neuropsychology, City University of New York
• Hilary Goldstine PhD, Senior Staff Psychologist, Berkeley Therapy Institute, Berkeley CA
• Daniel Goldstine PhD, Senior Staff Psychologist, Berkeley Therapy Institute, Berkeley CA
• Poki Namkung-Stewart, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, Berkeley CA
• Tran Viet Nghi MD, Director, National Institute of Mental Health
• Hanoi Nguyen Minh Tuan MD, Bach Mai Hospital
• Hanoi Tran Van Cuong MD, Director, Central Psychiatric Hospital, Hanoi
• Tran Hun Binh MD, Psychiatrist, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi
• Nguyen Viet Thiem MD, Psychiatrist, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi