Alan Giachino, M.D., FRCSC
Chairperson, COA Orthopaedics Overseas Committee
Ottawa, ON

Ever heard of the city, Wenzhou? Probably not. It is bigger than Paris and twice the size of Sydney. It's not a tourist destination. With a surrounding population of 7 million and a medical school with a yearly graduating class of 1000 students, it is a vibrant community.  

Wenzhou is a coastal city located 300 km south of Shanghai . It is an industrial city. The people are hardworking and friendly. Aside from the busy road traffic at some intersections, the city is very safe for foreigners and interpersonal interactions throughout are always pleasant. In fact, my wife and I have never met a more gracious and pleasant group of doctors, nurses, and administrators.

A very enlightened Professor Chi, aided by Professor Xu, runs the orthopaedic department. The medical school is very receptive to visitors. The COA Orthopaedic Overseas Committee has supported efforts to establish a link with this area. At this point in time, this link is in its' infancy, but it is strong. My wife, Carmen, and I have visited twice. Our second visit involved a month of free volunteer work. Carmen taught English to eager nurses and doctors (Carmen is not a professional teacher) and thoroughly enjoyed the classes and resultant interactions. My schedule consisted of participation in clinics, academic rounds, operating room, and teaching sessions. In the OR, I had my choice of cases, and was usually the prime operator. They are keen to learn and will not exert any pressure to force someone to be involved with surgery that he/she is unaccustomed to doing. Equipment is frequently lacking in certain subspecialty areas. However, spine surgery and hand microsurgery are practiced at the very highest level of competence. Total joint surgery and arthroscopic surgery falls short in expertise and equipment. There was no emergency or night call expected. The residents took care of all ward work although ward rounds were necessary. Twice a week, a two-hour resident lecture was expected. In addition, a single two-hour talk was requested for the medical school during the month.

Weekends were free and were usually filled with out of town trips. Ac-comodation and meals were provided free of charge in the very convenient 'Specialist Building' on campus, next to the medical school residences and a five minute walk to the hospital. Orthopaedic Overseas would like to see this arrangement continue to blossom. We need volunteers who are willing to give four weeks for an experience of a lifetime. A minimum of three weeks is necessary; two weeks is not enough. Regrettably, the travel costs are not supported. Serious applicants may write to me for further information concerning Wenzhou, how to travel there, and where to stay in Shanghai, Beijing, etc.

I could be reached at: Cet e-mail est protégé contre les robots collecteurs de mails, votre navigateur doit accepter le Javascript pour le voir or by telephone: 613-737-8144.