Project Team of Volunteer Doctors (TVD)
Project TVD is an organization that started in 1999 with a trip by 3 physicians from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) to lecture in Danang, Vietnam, and organized by Dr. Tung Van Dinh, the former director of Danang General Hospital. It continues today by his children; honoring this legacy-the name of the Project includes his initials. Over the past 16 years, Project TVD has expanded and grown into an annual activity which brings volunteer physicians to Danang with the goal to improve the local healthcare through both education and direct patient care.
The project is the combined efforts of the children of Dr. Tung Van Dinh, with the support of their families and their mother, Mrs. Tonia To Dinh, as well as dozens of physicians and allied health providers.
Since a modest beginning in 1999, Project TVD has recruited physician friends and colleagues to donate their time and expertise to Danang. For a week annually, they work alongside their Vietnamese colleagues to improve the knowledge of local healthcare professionals and provide direct patient care to indigent patients. This is an all-volunteer activity- the physicians volunteer their time, and pay for all of their expenses. Commonly, physicians combine the work week with several days of vacation in Vietnam or surrounding countries of Southeast Asia. It helps efforts to recruit physicians that Danang is located along the coast and is home to the internationally famous “China Beach.” From Danang, several UNESCO World Heritage sites are also nearby.
projecttvd.org 