At Vietnam’s National Children’s Hospital, Dr. Le Hong Nhung (image above), vice-director of the center of pediatric health care directives and lead ECHO facilitator, has helped build an ECHO pediatrics and cancer network across the country.
In Vietnam, and more broadly the Asia-Pacific region, where female leaders are less common than male leaders, Dr. Nhung believes that the mentorship and training she received through the ECHO Model played a crucial role in her career progression — and the career progression of other women in the field of health care.
“I stand behind ECHO to build a more inclusive and skilled workforce, promoting gender equity by ensuring that women have access to the same training and professional development opportunities as their male counterparts,” says Dr. Nhung, adding that ECHO can be used in any specialty to educate, mentor and improve professional capacity.
Female Leadership Drives ECHO Growth
At ECHO Vietnam, Dr. Nhung now works daily with another female ECHO leader, Lan Nguyen.
In 2014, Nguyen, a public health expert, had traveled back to Vietnam after learning about Project ECHO in the United States. At a time when the country was facing rampant multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, Nguyen helped establish Vietnam’s first ECHO programs for tuberculosis care, which led to Project ECHO’s partnership with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health.
Nguyen presents to physicians and health care providers about ECHO’s support for tuberculosis.
Due in large part to networks established by Nguyen and Dr. Nhung, the ECHO Superhub at VNCH has mentored more than 20,000 providers across Vietnam.
The “all teach, all learn” ECHO Model has elements of equity already built in: “The multidisciplinary approach in ECHO sessions breaks down the traditional hierarchy that we often see in medicine. Ultimately, it helps center a greater variety of perspectives and experience,” says Simran Priel, director of gender equity at Project ECHO.
Nguyen (middle, right) facilitates a Partner Launch Training focused on cancer at the Hanoi Oncology Hospital.
Because virtual training provides more equitable access to professional development than traditional in-person training, the ECHO Model also contributes to access to leadership roles; today, there are female leaders in VNCH’s ECHO oncology programs and the ECHO pediatrics networks in Vietnam.
Dr. Nhung sees all of this as connected. “As one of the few women in a leadership position within the hospital system, and promoting ECHO, I serve as a role model,” says Nhung. “I have the opportunity to mentor and support other women in the health care field, helping them navigate their careers and overcoming challenges that they may face.”