Building something new in healthcare rarely happens through a single meeting or partnership. It happens piece by piece.
Over the past several months, I've been working with colleagues to develop a broader longevity and healthy aging initiative in Vietnam, connecting partners across healthcare, industry, and government. One important piece of that effort has been developing relationships with leading medical universities.
We recently took an encouraging step forward in a meeting with the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP HCMC). We were joined by Vice President Vuong Thi Ngoc Lan and senior colleagues from across the university, bringing together expertise in clinical medicine, public health, and biomedical research.
Our conversation explored how these different perspectives could contribute to a more integrated approach to healthy aging, one that goes beyond treating disease to emphasize prevention, behavioral health, and helping people maintain their health and independence as they age.
I particularly appreciated UMP's approach to building partnerships. Rather than beginning with an ambitious agreement, their preference was to identify practical opportunities to work together, learn from the experience, and build from there. That approach resonated with me.
We're now exploring how we might contribute to UMP's annual scientific conference next year, an event that brings together more than 5,000 physicians from across Vietnam. The opportunity to connect clinical medicine with behavioral science and prevention, and to bring those conversations to a national audience, is especially exciting.
There's still a great deal to build. But seeing this kind of openness to interdisciplinary collaboration reminds me why I enjoy systems-level work. Meaningful change depends not only on good ideas, but on bringing the right people together and finding ways to turn those ideas into action.
I'm grateful to our colleagues at UMP HCMC for the thoughtful conversation and excited about where it might lead.
