Training on Psychological First Aid for SWEC Members

On Saturday September 29^th 2018, Safety & Wellnes Committee (SWEC) held its first offline meeting and training session at Lotus Meeting Room, Tam Duc Hospital. At that meeting, Dr. Bui Diem Khue, MD, MSc, lecturer of Physiology Department of University of Medicine and Pharmacy HCM city, psychotherapist (DU) gave lecture on Psychological First Aid (PFA) to SWEC Board Members. Based on John Hopkins’ course, that session helped SWEC members to know the initial steps and how to approach a case with psychological problem.

Members were provided with detailed instructions on how to approach their client/fellow student, familiarized themselves and practiced with scenarios. SWEC also learned how to deal with emergency situations through helpful cases, as well as critical principles of the initial session and throughout the support process. The two most important rules are CONFIDENTIALITY and comfort of the client/patient.

In that meeting, members presented the cases which need psychological help, discussed and found the approach thanks to opinion of Dr Khue. At the end of the training, Dr Khue and members analyzed the preliminary results of the survey on TTU students and built future plan based on collected data.

The survey confirmed the necessity of Safety and Wellness Committee to support mental and physical health for medical students in TTU. Therefore, SWEC is selecting more members who love and like to help fellow students with psychological issues. As a result, SWEC could a network of enthusiastic volunteers to hold seminars, talks, and training session with distinguished physicians and specialists. Those knowledge will hopefully reduce the negative impacts on mental and physical health, and improve student’s learning.

SWEC wishes to contribute to changing people’s perceptions and emphasizing the importance of mental health in modern life and in medical journey. If you have questions, concerns, issues of mental or physical health, please contact SWEC via email swec@ttu.edu.vn or Facebook

Dr Khue’s lecture (attached)