Decades of Impact in Hanoi Bears Fruit

The Fall 2025 Otology Team to Hanoi, Vietnam had four primary goals

1. Deepen relationships and fellowship with our Vietnamese partners and former fellows.

2. Discuss the details for a prospective temporal bone surgical dissection lab (TBL) in Hanoi.

3. Discuss the ongoing progress with Bach Mai Hospital regarding the ongoing MOU for establishing a Cochlear Implant (CI) Program there.

4. Support the Vietnamese Audiological Association (VAA) by being keynote speakers at their National Conference.

How the team accomplished their goals

The team was led by Dr. Rick Kopke and included Dr. Michael O’Leary and Dr. Dayton Young as well as Erica Simas and Diana Young sharing life, hospitality, presence and support for this endeavor. Some agenda items to accomplish these goals included the following:

• Meetings to discuss the basics of a framework for the MOU for the TBL.

• Shared meals of fellowship and friendship and celebration with Dr. Huy and family, Dr. Dung and family, Dr. Anh, Dr. Ding and his family and staff, Dr. Cahn and his family and staff, Dr. Xuong and his family and staff and members of the VAA.

• This deepened relationships and fellowship, allowing us to celebrate accomplishments of our joint work together [REI, HEI (Hough Ear Institute), NOH (National Otorhinolaryngology Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, HMU (Hanoi Medical University) and the VAA].

  

  Dr. Rick Kope with Dr. Cahn, director of the National Otolaryngology Hospital (NOH)

• Discussions between Dr. Canh and his staff, REI-Vietnam staff and Dr. Kopke, representing HEI regarding the TBL, were fruitful and aligning.

• Discussions with Dr. Ding and the Bach Mai staff were productive as we outlined progress made and future plans regarding establishing a CI program at this hospital.

• At the VAA conference Dr. Dayton Young lectured on Indications for Cochlear Implantation, a very timely, practical and much appreciated lecture.

• Dr. Michael O’Leary gave an inspiring lecture on Skull Base Surgery and how that field is being greatly impacted by new technology, as well as a practical lecture on managing the very common problem of fungal outer ear infections. These contributions were very well received.

• Dr. Kopke presented some of Dr. Hough’s fascinating material on the unusual congenital ear malformations he had catalogued over the years. He gave a second address on the true economic and societal burden of hearing loss including correlations with dementia.

• Ideas were proffered related to using mobile technology and new hearing health provision paradigms that might address this huge and growing problem in Vietnam. These messages seemed to be well received.

The biggest contribution

By participating in the VAA conference, we were able to broaden our impact to include touching some of the thousand VAA members and hearing health providers. The team had to overcome a number of organizational and logistical issues related to the planning and execution of the conference by the VAA, and the REI team did an excellent job of navigating these issues.

The biggest contribution and impact on this particular trip, besides being there and being with their Vietnamese friends, was the time discussing the Temporal Bone Lab (TBL) project.

An HEI partner requested a funding proposal to consider supporting a temporal bone surgical dissection training lab, and Dr. West, HEI’s CEO, asked Dr. Kopke to explore the logistical parameters with REI and the Vietnam partners. Mrs. Lien (director of REI’s Vietnam office), networked with our Vietnamese colleagues at NOH and HMU and Dr. West and me and REI HQ to establish a foundational framework for a potential MOU covering the essential elements important to all parties concerned if funding for the TBL is secured.

At the meeting with Dr. Canh and NOH and HMU representatives and REI and HEI representatives, there was excellent dialogue and communication, resulting in alignment on key facets of the potential agreement, understanding of potential limitations and a desire to move forward.

If this TBL should come to fruition, it would establish state-of-the-art ear surgical training lab to empower HEI-trained Vietnamese otologists, as well as International otologists, to provide specialized training for otologists all over Vietnam and in the broader region. It would represent a tangible footprint and resource for ongoing meaningful collaboration between REI-HEI-NOH and HMU and our former HEI exchange fellows (Vietnamese doctors coming to the U.S. for training), allowing an ongoing exchange of friendship, fellowship, culture and values through the practical application of training. The team was very excited to actually see the hospital under construction where the TBL will be housed should funding come through.

Site where the temporal bone lab will be

“I am always amazed and heartened by how our colleagues in Vietnam apply and share what training and teaching we give with a real heart for elevating otology care for their own people and the people of the region. We see this clearly with each visit.” Dr. Rick Kopke