Expert plastic surgeon provides home visits for wound management in Yunlin
Expert plastic surgeon provides home visits for wound management in Yunlin
2023-10-12
One of Taiwan’s premier plastic surgeons is dedicated to helping rural patients heal their wounds. Doctor Chang Hui-hsiu is a reconstructive surgery expert at National Taiwan University Hospital. The Yunlin native moved back to the East coast to work in a rural branch hospital. Then she realized that many older patients struggle to access healthcare because of mobility issues. That can lead to tragic outcomes which would otherwise be preventable. Now she focuses on providing home visits for those patients. She says many wounds can make a good recovery if they just get the attention of a capable doctor.
Many people call Chang Hui-hsiu the “Wound Witch.” She’s currently based at the Yunlin branch of National Taiwan University Hospital, as the attending physician for plastic surgery.
Chang Hui-hsiu
National Taiwan University Hospital doctor
Hang in there a moment. I’ll tidy it up a bit and it will heal faster.
It was a single class in college that led Chang to choose plastic surgery for her career. But she eschewed the lucrative route of cosmetic surgery, instead choosing to return to her rural hometown Yunlin and take up reconstructive surgery and wound management.
Chang Hui-hsiu
National Taiwan University Hospital doctor
The reconstructive surgery that people mostly hear about is probably after cancer. Especially after throat cancer. In a relatively short period of time, with just one operation, you can give the patient a more normal appearance and that’s a very satisfying thing.
After moving back to Yunlin, she noticed how intense the aging of the population is. Many older people in her community have mobility problems and struggle to visit doctors. That means they often live with chronic bad smells or unhealed wounds.
Chang Hui-hsiu
National Taiwan University Hospital doctor
Their normal care is very difficult, so when they’re finally brought in to see a doctor, it’s because they’re really desperate. So it’s a real mess. That made me realize how many people need help.
Chang applied to the health ministry for funding to take her team out from the hospital for home visits. That saves patients the challenges of travel, giving them the best possible treatment.
Chang Hui-hsiu
National Taiwan University Hospital doctor
Doctors who provide in-home care have already been to the patient’s home. If they can clean the wound, they have the ability and the experience, then many wounds can improve very quickly, and they won’t end up in such a bad condition.
Some may think that wound management is too simple work for a first-rate plastic surgeon like Chang. But she disagrees. She’s on a mission to help patients handle and treat wounds as well as possible. There are plenty of challenges along the way, but Chang says when she sees her patients healthy and smiling, it’s all worth it.
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傷口魔術師! 走入雲林偏鄉照護患者傷口
2023-10-12
雲林人口老化問題嚴重，讓高齡長者就醫不方便，傷口問題也成了一大隱憂。台大雲林分院整形外科醫師，張惠琇成立傷口照護中心，也是不少患者口中的傷口魔術師，2017年開始，她開始帶著團隊走出醫院，從機構擴大至個案家中服務，啟動傷口照護，減少患者交通奔波。
張惠琇是不少人口中的傷口魔術師，目前在臺大醫院雲林分院服務，擔任整形外科的主治醫師。
[[臺大醫院雲林分院主治醫師 張惠琇]]
“你忍耐一下喔，我幫你修(傷口)乾淨一點，會好比較快”
因為大學時期的一堂課，張惠琇一腳踏入整形外科的世界，但她並沒有選擇較為賺錢的醫美，轉而回到故鄉投入傷口照護及重建。
[[臺大醫院雲林分院主治醫師 張惠琇]]
“大家一般聽到的重建，大概就是癌症的重建，尤其是像口腔癌，可能用不會算太久的時間，開完一台刀，讓病人看起來人模人樣，這也會很有成就感”
回鄉服務，她才發現，人口老化嚴重，不少長輩行動不便，導致就醫困難，往往就需要與身上惡臭或久未癒合的傷口為伍。
[[臺大醫院雲林分院主治醫師 張惠琇]]
“平常照顧就很困難，所以帶來看診，可能也是很不得已才帶來，所以就會弄得很爛，會讓我覺得說，有很多需要幫忙的人”
張惠琇向衛福部爭取經費，帶著團隊，從照護機構到個案的住處，希望讓病患免於舟車勞頓，也能獲得更好的治療。
[[臺大醫院雲林分院主治醫師 張惠琇]]
“尤其是像居家醫療的醫師，他們已經到病患家裡了，他如果會做清創，有能力，有經驗做，那很多傷口就可以很快速的進步，也不會拖到那麼糟糕”
有些人認為傷口照護對整行外科醫師而言是大材小用，張惠琇並不這樣認為，反而將它視為一份使命感，雖然一路走來遇到困難是少不了，但她說能幫助病患重拾健康的笑容，再累也值得。
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