Summer 2025 Participant
My favorite part of interning at 1A Hospital in Vietnam was definitely the unique and wide variety of experiences that I had! I had the chance to explore a lot of the different units in the physical therapy department of the hospital including electronic therapy, outpatient physical therapy, inpatient physical therapy, children's physical therapy, speech therapy, etc. I also had the unique opportunity to shadow in the traditional Chinese medicine department and observe a surgery!
Summer 2025 Participant
Try learning at least a little bit of Vietnamese before beginning your internship! While English may not be required, I definitely was able to take away a lot more from the program and make so many valuable memories because I was able to communicate in Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese work culture and environment are very different from in the U.S. People are very open and direct, sometimes loud-spoken, and the "hustle and bustle" feeling when communicating with people is often present. However, they can also be very warm, welcoming, and are easy to open up and get to know. All in all, embracing or accepting any differences, the culture, and being open to whatever comes your way will definitely elevate your internship experience!
Summer 2025 Participant
The most rewarding part of the program was definitely being able to get such a broad and culturally unique perspective of the physical therapy field and meet so many amazing people. Coming into the program, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to pursue physical therapy as a career; however, the experiences I had during my internship confirmed that I this is what I want to do, and that I truly enjoy it. Additionally, this was my first clinical experience so I wasn't sure how communication between the patients and my coworkers would turn out, especially in Vietnamese (I am fairly fluent but have never spoken it in a work setting). However, I was able to form strong relationships with the patients and physical therapists at the hospital--relationships that were special, memorable, and made it the most hardest to leave at the end of my internship.
