Medical students from Yangon and Mandalay recently participated in a five-day health education and care initiative organized by Tzu Chi in Myanmar. The outreach program brought the future doctors into eight monastic schools, orphanages, and nursing homes across Mandalay to provide vital health education, wound care, and environmental cleaning. By stepping out of their classrooms, the students offered crucial support to communities with limited access to healthcare resources.

For many of the participating students, including those from the University of Medicine 2 in Yangon, the initiative was their first opportunity to witness how the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) translate into real-world action.

Myat Ko Ko Aung, one of the medical students, shared that his understanding of the SDGs had previously been confined to textbooks and exams. Through this outreach, he gained a new perspective on how medical services can actively integrate into and benefit society.

Empowering youth through health education

In the monastic schools, 23-year-old medical student Ma Jue Jue Paing focused on guiding young girls through the physical and emotional changes of puberty. She provided menstrual health education to help alleviate their anxiety about growing up. Paing observed that many of the children lacked dedicated caregivers, resulting in a gap in basic health knowledge. She expressed immense joy in being able to use her medical training to contribute meaningfully to their well-being.

At the orphanages, the energetic nature of the children often led to minor injuries and skin infections. The medical students meticulously cleaned their wounds, applied ointments, and taught them essential hygiene practices.

Some children don't even tell me when they have a fever, and others have sores that need attention and nutritional support. In this situation, the arrival of the doctors and medical students is incredibly helpful to us.— Joseph Ko, Director of St. Joseph Orphanage

Fostering holistic care

Beyond direct medical care, the volunteers and students also engaged the children in environmental stewardship. Wearing gloves, they picked up litter together, instilling the concept that protecting the environment is fundamentally linked to protecting personal health.

The initiative extended its reach to local nursing homes, where the students approached the elderly residents with deep respect. They assisted with personal hygiene, cleaned the living spaces, and spent quality time interacting with the seniors, bringing warmth and comfort to their day.

Over the course of five days, the medical students not only practiced the core tenets of global sustainability but also discovered the profound humanistic values that lie at the heart of medicine.

Written by Lu-Fa Huang (黃露發), Kang-Kang Kuo (郭康康), Si-Huo Yang (楊四火)

Edited by Yu-Chen Pan (潘俞臻)