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TWU students travel
to Vietnam to teach and practice physical therapy
7/02/07
From left, Harmony
Choi, Sara Khanzadeh, Samantha LeHecka, Sandy Do, Dr. Toni
Roddey and Alison Gallup stand in front of the Da Nang Orthopedic
Rehabilitation Center, where they practiced during their trip
to Vietnam
HOUSTON –
Texas Woman’s University physical therapy graduate students
Sara Khanzadeh, Harmony Choi, Samantha Lehecka and Alison
Gallup recently traveled to Da Nang, Vietnam to teach and
provide physical therapy services to the community.
“We spent
our time providing physical therapy services at a clinic in
Da Nang. We also presented a one-day shoulder rehabilitation
conference to area healthcare providers,” said Dr. Toni
Roddey, associate professor of physical therapy at the TWU
Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center, who led the students
on the trip in May. TWU alumn Sandy Do also went on the trip.
Ms. Khanzadeh said,
“It was an eye-opening experience. We worked on a patient
that had a frozen shoulder. He had been in the hospital for
two months because of a spinal cord injury, and the first
time he noticed improvements on his shoulder was after his
session with us.
“The next
day his demeanor had changed and he was giving us the thumbs-up
sign. We taught the local physical therapists what we were
doing so they could continue treatment with him.”
Dr. Roddey said
the students are the reason this trip happened.
“They took
the initiative and approached me about traveling abroad to
volunteer our services. They organized the trip and raised
the money necessary to travel.”
Ms. Khanzadeh said,
“We raised close to $11,000 by soliciting family and
friends. Each week we massaged people at TWU for $1 a minute.
We also massaged a MS 150 bike team that donated money to
our trip in return. Fundraising took a lot of time and was
the bulk of our preparation for the trip.”
In addition to
the students’ raising the funds for their travel from
various sources, Covenant Church in Houston paid for Dr. Roddey’s
plane ticket for the trip.
“It was fulfilling
for me to see the students learn and grow as they experienced
health care in a third-world country,” Dr. Roddey said.
“By sharing and practicing their knowledge, the students
learned to be flexible and creative in their treatment, as
well as to be sensitive to cultural differences.”
Ms. Khanzadeh said,
“I now have a better knowledge of how to treat underserved
communities and patients with whom I can't communicate with
in English. We hope that future classes and professors participate
in trips like this. It deepens your understanding for your
patients and makes you a better clinician.”
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For Further Information
Contact:
Amanda McKeen Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu
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