Wrap-up celebration

After many long hard days in the clinic, it was time to announce the results for the 2015 Mission. Bac Si Ha started with a speech, thanking the entire team for their dedication and hard work. He praised the efforts of the entire group and specifically said that the Temple team made a significant contribution to the success of the mission. Each Faculty gets a chance to address the team. When it came to my words, they went like this, "It amazes me each year that a team from Philadelphia can meet a team from Georgia, half way around the world, and accomplish such great things. The common thread amongst the entire team was our dedication, compassion and love for the poor patients of Vietnam. I am very proud of how seamlessly the Temple team merged with the Mercer team from day 1. It is never about 2 teams, but we act as ONE!!! At times I was very tough on my team, but its only because I want them to be tough on themselves when Im not around!!! I want to thank Bac Si Ha for agreeing to allow Temple to be a part of this journey once again. Many of you will say Bac Si Ha is amazing. I say he is a fantastic practitioner, an inspiration to everyone and we all should aspire to be even close to his level of commitment to patients. He treated his final patient with the same intensity as he treated his first patient, and did it all with a smile, which we all know is sometimes hard to do. I thank Dr. O'Brien and Dr. Kunz for accepting our Pharmacy students into the prosthetics clinic and training them as one of their own. I thank Bich, who was a pleasure to work with in the medical clinic. But I have to give special thanks to 2 individuals who without their assistance, our team couldn't function. I Thank Dr. Thao Nguyen and Dr. Chi Tran, who have been partners with me for the past 4 years. Their dedication to this mission and their assistance with coordinating all our teams efforts is immeasurable. Finally, I close with my annual toast,
Bac Si Ha, YO!!!!!!!

The totals for the 2015 mission are as follows:
2300 medical patients
468 prosthetics
400 gift packages to families
Thousands of lives touched!!!!!