Having been attached to the border for nearly 20 years, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri considers the border as his homeland, and ethnic minorities as his brothers and sisters. He has not only taken care of their health, but also encouraged the people here to build a new lifestyle, and join the Border Guard in protecting the territorial sovereignty and national border security.
A doctor of the highlands
Nguyen Van Quoc Tri (born in 1980, in Tam Hiep commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province) enlisted in the Border Guard force of Quang Nam province at the age of 20. After a long time of studying and training, in 2007, the young soldier graduated from the Military Medical College and worked at the A Xan Border Guard Station. At the beginning of his work in the highlands, he realised that people’s lives were still too difficult, especially their awareness of healthcare.
However, at that time, as a doctor, he could only examine and treat common diseases for the people. With the desire to improve the quality of medical examination, treatment and health care for the people here, he wrote a request to the Quang Nam Provincial Border Guard Command to allow him to study at the University of Medicine (Hue University) and voluntarily pay the tuition fee.
After four years of studying hard, he graduated and returned to his unit and was assigned to the Dak Pring Border Guard Station (Nam Giang District). In 2014, he was transferred to the A Xan Military-Civilian General Clinic, Tr'hy Border Guard Station (Tay Giang District) with the task of examining and treating people in four border communes of Tay Giang District including Axan, Tr’hy, Gary and Ch’om.
In addition, people in the border villages of Ka Lum district, Se Kong province (Laos) still regularly visit the A Xan Military-Civilian General Clinic. Up to now, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri has been assigned to hold the position of Deputy Head of the A Xan Military-Civilian General Clinic.
Previously, whenever they were sick, most ethnic minorities in the border communes of Tay Giang district often went to see shamans rather than to the medical station. Over many years in the border land, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri and the soldiers in green uniforms and officers and staff of the A Xan Military-Civilian General Clinic have persistently campaigned and propagated.
Up to now, the ethnic minorities here, especially the Co Tu people, have raised their understanding of the harmful effects of superstition and heresy, gradually eliminating bad customs in the community, especially the story of “forest ghosts”.
Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri shared that due to the limited level of education, there are still many bad customs. Therefore, what we are concerned about is how to make people understand and trust modern medicine, no longer afraid of “forest ghosts”.
For nearly 20 years working with the border people, there has been no situation that Dr. Tri has not experienced. At any time, when someone in the village is sick, ill, poisoned by mushrooms, poison ivy, food, or is stung by a bee, bitten by a poisonous snake, especially when about to give birth, the people trust and seek out Dr. Tri. With the responsibility of a soldier and the heart of a doctor, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri has saved dozens of lives, acting as a “midwife” for many pregnant women at the Vietnam-Laos border.
A Lang Thi Chung (A Xan commune, Tay Giang district) is one of many pregnant women in the border area who was helped by Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri to give birth successfully. She gratefully recounted: “It was late that night and I had severe abdominal pain, it was raining heavily outside, the roads were difficult to travel, I could not move to the infirmary or clinic. Only about 20 minutes after receiving the news from my husband, Dr. Tri came to my house to examine me and guide me on how to give birth. After 30 minutes, I gave birth to a baby boy weighing 3 kg. My husband and I are very grateful to Dr. Tri for arriving in time to help me give birth successfully.”
Caring for the health of people in border areas
The A Xan Military-Civilian General Clinic, on average, each year receive and treat 6,000-8,000 patients in the border communes of Quang Nam province and the border villages of Ka Lum district (Sekong province, Laos).
Since 2016, the competent authorities have invested in building clinics with increasingly larger scales, equipped with many modern medical equipment such as digital X-ray machines, automatic biochemical testing machines, automatic oxygen generators, electric suction machines with 2 tanks, incubators for newborns, 10 beds for inpatients and ambulances to transfer patients when necessary.
Notably, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri is fluent in the Co Tu language when examining and treating people. This makes people feel more clearly the sincerity of the border doctors. When language is no longer a barrier, distance is almost gone, people trust the words and actions of the border soldiers more.
Bling Mo (Tr’hy commune, Tay Giang district) shared that Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri is a person who is dedicated to the people of the highlands. When receiving information about illness in the village, Doctor Tri does not hesitate to travel day and night, overcoming all terrains to examine and treat people, especially the poor and the disadvantaged. The ethnic minorities here consider Doctor Tri as a family member, always trusting and following Doctor Tri’s advice.
According to Major Le Van Thu, Political Commissar of Tr’hy Border Post, Major and Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri not only has good professional qualifications, but also has a high sense of responsibility when examining and treating patients and mobilizsing people to adopt a new lifestyle.
Doctor Tri’s words are very prestigious with the people in the area because they are always concrete in action. “For each of us, when managing and protecting the sovereignty and security of the national border, making people trust and support is extremely important,” said Major Le Van Thu.
With his positive contributions, in 2021, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri became one of 10 typical examples selected to be honoured as “Border Guard”. In 2022, he received a Certificate of Merit from the Border Guard Command for performing the task of participating in the prevention of the COVID-19 epidemic. And in 2024, he participated in the exchange programme entitled “Shining the qualities of Uncle Ho’s soldiers” organised by the Ministry of National Defence.
Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri affirmed that he will continue to do a better job of taking care of the health of officers, soldiers and ethnic people in the border areas. Colonel Hoang Van Man, Political Commissar of the Border Guard of Quang Nam province, shared that with his dedication, responsibility, medical ethics and medical skills, Major, Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri has saved many lives for people in the border area and neighbouring Laos. Doctor Nguyen Van Quoc Tri is one of the typical examples of the Border Guard in the work of examining and treating people.
