Bhutanese health professionals being trained in New York

New York, May 02, 2009: Six Bhutanese health professionals are currently taking training in emergency medical services and emergency medicine at the Frank and Lisina Hoch Center for Emergency Education at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow.

The group, who reached there with the help of Irvington resident Lisina Hoch, is in the US as part of a project to improve healthcare in country.

Hoch is a long-time friend of the grandmother of the current king of Bhutan and serves as vice president of the Bhutan Foundation. 

“The need for medical training in Bhutan is tremendous,” says Hoch adding, “And with the superb emergency training center at Phelps, we thought this would be a good match.” 

After completing the Phelps program, the Bhutanese physician will proceed to Hartford Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for additional training and will return to Bhutan equipped to train others in country.

“We are very proud to have been chosen by the Bhutanese government to share our knowledge of emergency care with their health care professionals,” said Jeff Meade, director of the center. “After four weeks of training here, they will be able to teach what they have learned to their colleagues in Bhutan.”