In 2019, LFHC welcomed 108 volunteers from 4 continents. Throughout most of 2020 and 2021, we've had none due to the coronavirus pandemic! Now the borders are open, we will once again accept volunteer applications, but much fewer than in previous years due to changing conditions and the evolving skills of our Lao staff.
Work & Volunteer (Medical Volunteers)
Lao Friends Hospital for Children accepts applications for medical volunteers throughout the year.
All trained and suitable qualified medical professionals and individuals interested in volunteering are welcome to send their resume to [email protected] at any time. We prefer that if you have not volunteered here before that you come for at least 2 months on your first visit. For people returning to help we make exceptions. We would also consider making exceptions for experienced Sub Specialists to volunteer and teach in their field. People with experience in Global Health are also desirable as it can be confronting and challenging to accept resource limitations.
Our primary focus for medical volunteers is to support patient care through mentoring of our Lao staff in paediatric medicine. Overtime our Laos staff have become more and more skilled, and we now have 9 Lao Paediatricians at LFHC with several more at various stages of training in Vientiane. We require that all of medical volunteers are fully qualified Specialists or Subspecialists.
Our greatest need for volunteer support is our Outpatient department (and also ED) which is very busy with a very broad mix of patients, some very complex, and we value General Paediatricians etc. who can commit to supporting us there. We would be very open to any volunteers who can help provide 1:1 supports to our more junior doctors during clinics as well as help with quality improvement processes.
We have several clinics running to support specific areas, these are thalassemia clinic 2 days a week and then 1 day a week of Nephrology, Epilepsy, Developmental and Fractures/ orthopedics.
In 2022 we opened a small intensive care unit and are now intubating and ventilating patients. This inpatient area is in addition to our Inpatient unit (24+ beds) and Neonatal unit (24 beds). There are quality improvement processes ongoing that you could be a part of.
Volunteers will be invited to participate in educational and training activities, as well as providing clinical support. Our Medical Teaching program includes weekly all day teaching on Fridays to a group of doctors and also morning teaching. Volunteers are included as teachers in these programs along with our senior Lao doctors and pediatricians.
Examples of medical volunteers we are targeting currently.
Pediatric Generalists (also Developmental Paediatricians). Again, ideally, to stay 2 months on their 1st trip and support the Outpatient doctors, this is Monday to Friday.
Subspecialists (maybe appropriate to attend for a shorter period, i.e. 1 month). Some examples that are currently priorities.
We have a large number of patients with thalassemia (around 400 registered in our thalassemia clinic) with about 50 every week, many coming for blood transfusions. A hematologist would be helpful in our approach to TDT/ NTDT as well as chelation.
We have a lot of nephrotic syndrome and a nephrologist would be helpful. We are looking to improve our care for SRNS.
We manage a lot of fractures in cooperation with the general surgeons. However the non-surgical aspect of orthopedic care could be enhanced. So, either an orthopod or an experienced Emergency doctor with an interest in fracture management is helpful.
Infectious Diseases specialist to review some of our guidelines and practices, we see a lot of HIV, TB and many other diseases including vaccine-preventable. We do not have access to reliable microbiology and so we need to make clinical decisions for most infections.
Pediatric neurology. There is a very large “treatment gap” in Laos for epilepsy meaning the majority of children go untreated. There is also a high burden of neurocysticercosis as a cause of epilepsy.
Palliative Care. We have a high burden of chronic disease and high child mortality. A specific goal of ours is to improve the quality of care and quality of life for these children and families.
Allied Health Volunteer Opportunities
Our Developmental & Nutrition team includes Physiotherapy, Child Life, Occupational Therapy & Nutrition.
Speech Therapy.
Laboratory
The laboratory staff have requested a hematology technician to help upskill them. They would require a minimum of 2 months duration for your stay.
Radiology
We are currently well supported by RAD-AID. Feel free to enquire with them about joining their organization. https://rad-aid.org/about-us/volunteering/
This opportunity is located in Luang Prabang, Laos.
