MoU Signing Ceremony between the University of Puthisastra and KV Hospital

The University of Puthisastra signed MoU with KV hospital on 2nd February 2023. During the MoU, Professor Ian Findlay, President and Vice-Chancellor, gave impressive remarks about how UP successfully prepares the young generation for industrial 4.0 including providing the best learning outcomes and experiences to students.

UP prepares students in 4 ways: 1. applying research skills to create new knowledge; 2. using IT skills – critical for industry 4.0; 3. critical thinking and soft skills to succeed in the workplace and finally 4. Important English skills which serve as a vehicle for students to succeed in the international workplace and business. Recognising the importance of English, UP provides 4 years intensive English program for students to make them successful in the current market work, especially in the context of globalization.

The University of Puthisastra has more than 100 MOUs with national and international partners to guarantee that students receive
a complete education through their practicum, internship, competition, exchange program, and other collaborative initiatives.

The University of Puthisastra is very proud of student success with 100% success rates in National Exit Exams. 100% passing rate in Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery – the very best results in Cambodia. Additionally, the University of Puthisastra became the first and only Cambodian university ranked among over 1400 of the World’s Top Universities in very prestigious Times Higher Education Rankings, especially a Top 500 university for Sustainable Development at the United Nations. This incredible result helps UP graduates get jobs in many prestigious hospitals, including public and private.

Director of the KV Hospital, H.E.Dr. Keo Vannak, was very impressed by these impressive UP achievements. He gave short remarks that by working together we (KV hospital and UP) can work hand in hand together in terms of technical training and get exchanged experiences through this MOU. In case we encounter problems, we will solve them together. So, we are thrilled to work with UP.

UP visits KV Hospital

The study tour was warmly welcomed by HE Dr. Keo Vannak, Lok Chumteav Ey Sopheak and HE Dr. Meas Sarun, as well as many other senior staff. KV Hospital and the University of Puthisastra are partners in research and training in the health sector, and have the same vision of participating in human resource development for the health sector in Cambodia.

UNIDENT DONATES ENDOONTIC EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES TO UP FACULTY OF DENTISTRY

Last week UP was very happy to receive a donation of endodontic rotary equipment and supplies to the value of about $24,000. These will be used to support our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in endodontics, as well as for patient treatment by our residents, tutors, specialists and students. Unident has been a good partner of UP for many years, and we are grateful for this generous donation.

ENDOFEST Webinar Series Reaches Mid-point

The UP ENDOFEST is a series of 6 webinars by renowned US endodontist Professor Gunnar Hassel……..from Columbia University Professor Gunnar agreed to do this series for Cambodian dentists without charge, following an introduction from Professor Steve Cohn who is his former classmate, and who is presently in Cambodia to teach the Postgraduate Diploma in Endodontics. For the last 3 weeks over 200 participants have joined the 2 hour session online. The sessions have been both interesting and informative. We are very grateful to Professor Hasselgren for sharing his enormous knowledge and experience with the Cambodian dental community. And thanks to Dr Bhavna Nahata for organizing the event so well, and to the Dental Council for providing CPD points.

Dr Chea Sin, Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, is traveling to join International Dean’s Course Southeast Asia (Part III)

As one of the alumni of German’s Scholarship for International Dean Course’s Southeast Asia, Dr Chea Sin was invited to join the International Dean’s Course Southeast Asia (Part III) which was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from February 08 to February 12, 2023. This course is supported by The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies (DIES)”.

At the same time, there was also an IDC-SEA Alumni conference whose theme was on Sustainability as a Core Task of Modern University Management.

Application of UV-Vis Spectrophotometry in Pharmaceutical field, University of Puthisastra

UV-visible Spectrophotometer GENESYS 10S UV-Vis model (Thermo Scientific) is an analytical instrument used in study program and research activity in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Puthisastra. This machine has a wavelength range from 190 nm to 1100 nm. It is easy to use to demonstrate or evaluate the accuracy of a test for correctly identifying some condition.

UP’s UV-visible spectrophotometer is frequently used in research activity including detecting alkaloid in plants, quality and quantity analysis, identifying compounds in Pharmaceuticals, quality control of drugs, application food and beverage industries, and analysis of sunscreen and lotions in the cosmetics industry.

This machine is used by students in UP’s pharmacy courses including Instrumental Analytical Chemistry and Therapeutic Chemistry and used to understand the principles analyis methodology, validation of analytical procedures, quality assurance and quality control.

Dave and Jean’s Story

It’s Christmas Day, 25th December, 2022…… and I’m sharing a tuk-tuk with my friend, Jean Le Goff. As so often happens in Phnom Penh, we tare not moving. Although it’s only 9 am, on a Sunday, the traffic on Russian Federation Boulevard is at a standstill. Jean, a dental technician at UP, and I are on our way to the Branch Centre Orphanage. There, we would be joining our colleagues, Cambodian Pop Idols, Puthika Cheab and Rangsey Ry, together with English teachers, Norin Rathana and Daniel Gillard. Our mission – to ‘play Santa Claus’ to the children at the orphanage!

Puthika had arranged for a collection of money to buy toys for the kids at Christmas. We’d arranged to meet there to hand out the toys to the children.

While waiting in the traffic, Jean and I were talking. Our conversation went something like this:

Dave: Why is it taking so long to get there Jean?
Jean: Sois patient mon ami! (It’s French – Google it!)
Dave: But we are going to be late!
Jean: Ne t’inquiete pas Dave. (It’s French – you know what to do!)
Dave: I could walk it much quicker.
Jean: Alors marches-y. (It’s French – etc.)
Dave: Then next time I will!
It was then that –Ping! I had an idea. Yes, next time I would walk to the orphanage. But it would be a charity walk, and all the proceeds would go to the children at the orphanage. I told Jean about my (crazy!) plan.
Jean: Une bonne idée … magnifique! Ma femme et moi vous rejoindrons!
So, an idea was born on Christmas morning.

Eventually, we arrived at the Branch Centre Orphanage, and I don’t think either of us was prepared for what we were about to witness. Many of the 100 plus kids had severe physical disabilities. Some had been abandoned by single parents who simply could not afford to feed them. One little boy, about three years old, was scarred for life after his drunken father had poured boiling water on him, because he wouldn’t stop crying. His father had fled in fear of repercussions from his neighbours. A lot were severely traumatised after suffering mental and physical abuse from family members. The list goes on and on…

THESE KIDS NEED OUR HELP!
On Sunday, 5th March, Jean, his wife Stephanie, and myself, will walk from the gates of UP to the orphanage. Every step we take will be for these unfortunate children. I would like to ask you all for any financial help you can provide. If everyone reading this would contribute the price of a cup of coffee, or a bowl of noodles, it would make a tremendous difference to the lives of these kids.

You can contribute to the dedicated UP Charity ABA Account:
ABA Account Number: 002 954 878

We will also accept cash, or donations of clothes or food – please speak (or email) Dave Spencer or Cheab Puthika in the Faculty of English, or Jean Le Goff in the Faculty of Dentistry.

Thank you for reading: we hope we can count on your support for this worthwhile cause.

Dave Spencer, Jean & Stephanie Le Goff.

Puthika’s Story.
I was introduced to the Branch Center by my cousins. They used to go there and they found that the kids really needed support from the rest of the community.

Despite all the setbacks in life, their eyes remain bright and hopeful. Then, I had the idea of wanting to do something meaningful for the kids just to make their Christmas Day a little bit more special, so I proposed the idea of buying toys and stationary for them, to my colleagues in the English Faculty. Thanks to their generosity, we raised over $100. We bought the gifts, went to the centre, and shared them with the kids. They were all excited and thankful – filled with joy. This time, we want to do something bigger…

The Charity Walk!

You can contribute to the dedicated UP Charity ABA Account:
ABA Account Number: 002 954 878
Thank you in advance for your support.
Cheab Puthika.

Joining the SIBE Diagnostic Seminar

Staff of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Puthisastra attended a workshop organized by SNIBE Diagnostics, a supplier of equipment, one of the largest medical laboratories in Cambodia. It includes many presentations that share experiences related to many topics, such as thyroid function tests and gonadal tests, in addition to showing laboratory equipment. This participation provides an opportunity for the staff of the Faculty of Pharmacy to gain new knowledge and experience, as well as facilitate inter-institutional communication.

UPs YEAR-5 PHARMACY STUDENTS CONDUCT COMMUNITY OUTREACH TO MUNDULKIRI PROVINCE FROM JANUARY 03-06, 2023

UP pharmacy students under the support of the faculty of pharmacy conducted community outreach to improve their skills and knowledge.
This activity was done for the following purpose:
• Survey how medicine/drugs are used, stored, bought, or discovered
• Medication review on the medicine/drugs used within the household
• Do risk factor screening for diabetes and hypertension
• Provide education and training on how to prevent, notice symptoms, the disease develops, for diabetes and hypertension
• Publish leaflets on the availability and benefits of vaccination for their livelihoods
• Publish leaflets on how to find correct and trustworthy information on medicine/drugs in order to fight misinformation on social media etc.
• Provide guidelines and information on how to find the best medical care in their living area.
Dr. Chea Sin, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Puthisastra, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Youth Volunteer Movement of the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia in Private Higher Education Institutions, led the pharmacy students to Senmonorom City Hall to meet Courtesy of ÷
1- Mr. Nut Boeun, Deputy Governor of Senmonorom City
2- Mr. Yin Chanthorn, Director of Municipal Administration
3- Mr. Heng Mab, Deputy Director of Municipal Administration
4- Mrs. Am Sineth, Deputy Director of Municipal Administration
5- Mrs. Set Thoeun, Director of the Office of Social Affairs and Social Welfare
6- Mr. Kuch Meng Thou, Chief of Spean Meanchey Commune
7- Mr. Chan Sophoeun, Member of Sangkat Senmonorom Council

After a welcoming speech, the team divided the students into community health education groups as planned in the analysis.

PHARMACY TEAM, THE BIGGEST TEAM IN THE 11TH CHPAA MISSION 2023

Two pharmacy staff members and twenty-one UP pharmacy students who are in their third, fourth, and fifth years joined the 11th CHPAA Mission in Banteay Meanchey province from January 28 to February 5, 2023.

The Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America (CHPAA) has led a team of nearly 200 healthcare professionals from the US and Cambodia to provide free medical check-ups and treatment for women’s health problems, oral problems, eye diseases, and common diseases, as well as free medications and glasses, for people in Mongkul Borey district, Banteay Meanchey province. The medical check-up and treatment program was held for six days, from January 30 to February 4, 2023. CHPAA provided free medical check-ups at four locations, including the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Mongkul Borey Referral Hospital; Russey Krok Primary School, Russey Krok Village, Russey Krok Commune; Soeur Primary School, Soeur Commune; and the Community Learning Center in Kork Balaing Commune, Mongkul Borey District, Banteay Meanchey Province. The free medical check-up started from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The pharmacy team consisted of twenty-nine peoples. There are two UP pharmacy staff; twenty-one UP pharmacy students; four pharmacists from the US; and two pharmacy technicians from the US. As the pharmacy team had the largest number of members, they rotated to work on medication dispensing and support other teams, including ophthalmology, baby breathing, and primary care. The workflow in the pharmacy team followed the workflow practiced in community pharmacies in the US. The dispensing process for medications consisted of five main steps, including check-in, filling, verifying, pick-up, and consultation. Firstly, after seeing doctors or dentists, the patients came to take medications from the pharmacy team. Upon the arrival of the patients, the pharmacy team members took the patients’ prescriptions and then screened them to ensure that they were for the right patients and right treatment. After that, other pharmacy team members prepared the medicines, including filling and labeling. The third step, checking the prescription and the filled medicines to ensure that the filled medicines correlate with the prescriptions, was a critical step in the prescription filling process. This step was verified by pharmacists from the US. Once the filled prescriptions were verified, other team members passed them on to the members who were in charge of the pickup step. They called out the patient’s name and handed the filled medicines to the members who were responsible for providing medication counseling to patients. The consultation team was the last to ensure that medicines were used properly. Besides working in various subunits in the pharmacy team, UP pharmacy students and staff rotated to help other teams, including ophthalmology team, primary care team, and baby breathing team, translating from English to Khmer and facilitating the health check-up and diagnosis process.

Our students and staff were praised for their active participation, excellent performances, and great cooperation among the pharmacy team and with other teams during the mission. Our students and staff also learned a lot of practical skills and knowledge that are crucial for their personal and professional growth.

Here are some expressions from our staff and students who joined the mission:

“It’s such a good experience for us to explore and contribute to the mission of helping people in the rural areas of Banteay Meanchey province. I’m inspired that our healthcare professionals could change many people’s journeys. I’ve met a lot of people who do their hard work to contribute to our community and built friendships with incredible people after joining this mission.” -LIM Chanleap, Pharmacy laboratory assistant

“I learned a lot from the mission. I get new experience, I know what the job is , I know what I have to respond to, I know a lot of work even from what I want to know and also other work that doesn’t match with my major but it helps me a lot. It makes me know the process of work that everyone does. I get to know a lot of new people, more seniors, and a lot of teachers from another school in another country. They helped me a lot and taught me a lot of the work that I need to do. It makes me realize how hard everyone works to help patients from the heart. It made me realize that no matter what the job, I have to help each other, and have to do whatever for treatment patients. Moreover, I’m really tired of working, but it made me happy and I learned more from work and the people around me. Finally, it’s such a great opportunity for me to be a part of this mission. I really love this mission and love all volunteers as well. We are like a family, it’s so warm.” -CHHOY Sournavy, 4th year pharmacy student

“I learned a lot from this mission. I know more drugs, have a new challenge for myself, unexpected things happen for me, learn from friendship, meet new people, learn from other people, share knowledge with them, communicate with new people, and have experience for myself.” -HOUR Sreymom, 4th year pharmacy student

“I’m so lucky and excited to be a part of the 11th CHPAA mission in Banteay Meanchey province. I have learned a lot from the CHPAA mission, such as building good friendships, be patient, be helpful, be flexible, be kind, and the way you treat other people, you’ll get it back too. Last but not least, I’m so glad to help Cambodian people by explaining the usage of drugs to them and they show respect to me and others by smiling and being thankful.” -DET Kimsievmouy, 4th year pharmacy student

UP DENTAL STUDENTS VISIT TOP PRIVATE CLINICS

Year 7 dental students recently visited some of the top dental clinics in Cambodia as part of their Practice Management course to learn more about how a successful clinic operates. The course objective is to help students prepare for the launch of their own private practices in the future, and so they must learn every aspect of managing a private clinic.

The topics of interest included hiring and managing staff, purchasing supplies and equipment, clinic protocols, health and safety concerns, handling complaints, communication, record-keeping, and much more. Students had to complete an assignment based on what they had learned after asking questions and watching the clinic in action. At the end of the semester, each group is required to present a report on their visits to the class and their lecturers. In this course we have had a team of lecturers from UiTM university in Malalysia teaching online.

Thank you to Pachem Dental Clinic, Rowan Dental Clinic, Star Clinic, and Melvin Dental Care Co. for accommodating our request and enabling our students to spend a day in your clinics.

Australian volunteers have a busy 2 weeks at UP

Adj Clinical Professor Dr Steve Cohn and Adj Assoc Clinical Professor Dr Marcus Yan have been teaching endodontics in Cambodia for many years. Presently they are teaching the UP Postgraduate Diploma of Endodontics at UP. In their first visit to Cambodia since Covid, they were busy last week providing lectures and seminars in the mornings, and clinical supervision in the afternoons in the UP Dental Hospital. This week they have been working with CIPO and UP and UHS students who are providing treatment to children in the Healthy Kids Cambodia project at the Hang Ngor primary school. Some of the children who required root canal and advanced restorative treatment were referred to UP for treatment by our postgraduate and undergraduate students. We are very grateful for the work that Dr Steve and Dr Marcus are doing to help improve the standard of endodontic treatment in Cambodia and to help the children of Cambodia.

UP FACULTY OF DENTISTRY SIGNS MOU WITH PREAH ANG DOUNG HOSPITAL

In preparation to start at UP a Masters program in Orthodontics, last week an MOU was signed between Preah Ang Doung Hospital (represented by Dr Phan Sandeth, Head of the Department of Dentistry and OMF Surgery) and UP (represented by Prof Callum Durward (Dean of Faculty of Dentistry). This MOU will allow postgraduate orthodontics students to regularly attend the hospital to see patients requiring orthodontic treatment prior to having orthognathic surgery, as well as other general orthodontic cases. UP is grateful for the support it has received from Dr Sandeth and the Administrative staff at Preah Ang Duong hospital. We are presently awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health in order to begin this Masters program.

Oral Scientific Presentation of Second Year Science Research Students

Beside studying the theory in the classroom and practicing in the laboratory, scientific presentations are also an important part for students to develop soft skills and be ready as future scientists. The second generation of research science students started their studies actively and attentively from the beginning of the new semester of the academic year 2022 – 2023. In addition, on Friday, 20th January 2023, students gave their scientific presentation on “Quantification of Vitamin C using UV-Spectrophotometer and Titration Method” at Hall H, University of Puthisastra.

Nursing Clinical practicum

On 30th of January 2023, UP’s department of Nursing led 11 Associate Degree Nursing students to the National Pediatric Hospital, in addition 38 Bachelor Degree of Science in Nursing students to the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital and Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossomak Hospital, all for their third year of clinicals practice. It’s a crucial time for students’ clinical training in order to obtain experience and apply their knowledge, skills and attitude before they become graduate nurses.

The purpose of this clerkship is to help strengthen the abilities of all nursing students to practice essential clinical techniques with real patients that are required to achieve the highest quality standards and practice norms within the field of nursing.

Students must finish their theory and practice hours at university and meet all other requirements before they are qualified to commence their clinical practice. Nursing students are divided into smaller groups to place in different wards such as surgical wards, emergency wards, IPD wards, neurological wards, and ICU wards.

The Clinical Instructors in the Faculty of Nursing will follow up with students at the hospitals to guide and support them to build their knowledge, affective skills, appropriate attitude and confidence.

Pre-Hospital Training for Year-6 Medical Students

The two classes from year-6 medical students participated in the prehospital training arranged by the Faculty of Medicine.

The two days training consist of the presentation and the practical aspects which are divided into the 3 skill stations: Airway and breathing management, Lumbar puncture and Reading Electrocardiogram (ECG). The training was taught and guided by the physicians with many clinical experiences from public and private hospitals.

Medical Students Participated in CHPAA Mission in Banteay Mean Chey

Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America (CHPAA) is a humanitarian organization funded by Cambodian-American people. CHPAA missions occur once every year and have been in many provinces, providing help to more than 50,000 people. During its 11th mission, CHPAA allowed 23 medical students from the University of Puthisastra to serve for 10 days people in need of medical care in Banteay Meanchey province.

Students were given a chance to be medical or surgical assistants for doctors from the USA, learning practical skills. Additionally, this was also an opportunity to practice medical terms as well as general English with native speakers. According to one of the volunteers, this mission was not just about medical knowledge but also about improving skills required for daily life, such as communication skills and self-confidence. He encourages all medical students from year 4 onwards to participate in these missions.