| REPORT ON THE THIRD VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON PSYCHIATRY AND MEDICAL PSYCHOLOGY July 2001
The Conference was held on July 17 and 18, 2001 at the Mental Health Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Presentations were given by 3
Vietnamese psychiatrists and by 17 American mental health people (psychiatrists and psychologists) and by one neurologist and one
speech therapist. Three Vietnamese psychiatrists gave papers. The presentations were as follows:
- Dao Tran Thai MD (Ho Chi Minh City): Recurrent Brief Depression
- Robert Dolgoff MD (Berkeley, CA): How Antipsychotic Medications Work
- Rima Dolgoff-Kaspar BA (San Francisco): Lucid Dreaming
- Daniel Goldstine PhD (Berkeley): Criminal Responsibility and the Insanity Defense
- Hilary Goldstine PhD (Berkeley): Cults and Fringe Therapies
- Tiffany Ho MD (San Rafael, CA): The Organization of Public Mental Health Services in America
- Cheryl Kennedy MD (Newark, New Jersey): Psychiatric Aspects of AIDS
- Lam Xuan Dien MD (Ho chi Minh City) Suicide in Ho Chi Minh City
- Phuong-Thuy Le MD (San Jose, CA): Pack for Life: Basic Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills
- Linh, Ph.D. (Ho Chi Minh City): Alcoholic Psychosis
- Francis Lu MD (San Francisco): Cultural Issues in DSM-IV
- Stephen Mullins MD (Pittsburgh): Developmental Disability
- Paul Plasky MD (Boston): Management of Aggressive Behavior
- Henry J. Ralston MD (San Francisco): Current Views of Pain: Mechanisms and Management
- Mark Rego MD (New Haven, CT): Bipolar Depression
- Roy Sanders MD (Cooperstown, NY) : Childhood Depression and Anxiety
- Mel Selzer MD (San Diego): Alcoholism
- Stephen Shanfield MD (San Antonio, TX): Delirium and Dementia
- Jill Shannahan MD (Santa Cruz, CA): Sleep Disorders: Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
- Shirley Wheatland MS (Orinda, CA): Traumatic Brain Injury
There were over 100 Southeast Asian attendees - almost all Vietnamese with the exception of Dr. Sisouk Vongphrachanh from Vientiane
Laos. Most were psychiatrists but some were psychologists and a few were students. Most were from the greater Ho Chi Minh City area
but we also had attendees from Hue, Danang, and Hanoi as well as from other cities in Vietnam. None of the Vietnamese attendees
paid anything; we paid for accommodations and food for out-of-towners who would not otherwise have been able to attend. All costs
were paid by Doctor to Doctor, mostly out of the registration fees paid by volunteers, and some from contributions received by
Doctor to Doctor.
We brought with us medications and textbooks which we donated to the Mental Health Center and other training sites in Vietnam.
Some Vietnamese doctors speak English well, others not so well, and some not at all. Only two of the American attendees speak
Vietnamese. Therefore each presenter spoke in his or her own language. After each sentence or two a professional interpretor who
is also a physician translated thoses sentences. A syllabus was prepared before the conference containing the text or an outline
of each presenter's material along with reference material supplementing the presentation. This syllabus was distributed to all
attendees and will serve as a textbook for practioners in a country where psychiatric textbooks are expensive and very hard to
find. Lunch was provided for all attendees both days and as you might expect we had welcoming and farewell banquets for the
presenters and selected guests. We were videotaped by Vietnamese television and the Conference was on the evening television news
in Ho Chi Minh City. There was also a story about the Conference in the local newspaper. The conference was well received by the
attendees, we had a wonderful time, and we are now invited back for a 4th Conference which we are planning now. |
