Erin Hobson, RMT in Cambodia
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Erin Hobson spent two years working in Cambodia as a Massage Therapist in a hospital setting and travelling to different villages to provide treatments to individuals who were not able to travel. She started as a volunteer in The Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh which eventually led to a contract. This led to an additional contract at The International Clinic and Hospital in Sihanoukville.
During her time in Cambodia, she found many similarities between Canadians and Cambodians that she hadn’t anticipated.
“I found Canadians and Cambodians very similar in respect to kindness and gentleness as well as tolerance and understanding towards each other,” Erin said. “I often called Cambodia the ‘Canada of Southeast Asia’.”
There were of course some differences in treating people in Cambodia as well. One of the major differences is that she saw far more chronic cases in Cambodia. She theorized that this was because more people would just live with pain for years and they had no other option but to do so. There were also some other differences that came from working in a developing country.
“When you work with a population of people in a developing country, such as Cambodia, you really begin to appreciate the luxuries of a health care system and extended health care,” Erin explained. “I say luxury because as Canadians we never have to question if we can afford to go to a hospital if we need to.”
Most patients she saw as an RMT in Ontario had some sort of extended health coverage, and if they couldn’t afford massage therapy treatment, it was possible to direct them to other services within the healthcare system that would be covered. She found that because this is not an option for Cambodian patients, they were more appreciative of the care they received.
She also found that the war and genocide less than 40 years ago, in which about 25 percent of the population was killed by the Khmer Rouge, did not affect the country in the ways she might have anticipated before she got there.
“You would think that a country that has experienced such atrocities would be deeply divided but instead I found a country full of gentleness and forgiveness,” she said. “It was really humbling to witness countless instances of families and individuals helping each other, knowing that their families had been on opposite sides of the war.”
Erin saw a variety of patients during her time in Cambodia, and the most common complaints were mainly lower back issues from manual labour, victims of motorcycle collisions, and concussions. She found that there was less awareness of the benefits of massage therapy than she was used to in Ontario.
“Being able to help patients, their families, and medical professionals understand the important role that massage therapy can have in a recovery was really wonderful,” she said.
One of her most memorable patients was a boy who lost one of his legs and the lower portion of his right arm to a land mine. He was determined to play soccer, and got around using a single crutch that was a bit big for him and a good hop. He was experiencing general muscle pain, whiplash and post-concussion symptoms from the blast, and phantom limb pain. His family couldn’t travel much to the clinic, so Erin worked with them to set up a treatment plan and visited their village as much as possible to see how he was progressing. They were able to get his general muscle pain under control and get him a crutch that fit him. Before he began treatment he never stopped smiling, but after treatment, Erin was able to see his smiles increase tenfold as his condition improved. She will never forget seeing him play soccer on one of her last days in the region.
Cambodia was a unique experience for Erin. She did a lot of work in rural farming communities as well as in the poorest neighbourhoods within larger cities like Phnom Penh. Despite the differences, she was able to learn a lot that she could apply to her practice in Ontario.
"The biggest thing I learned in Cambodia was patience. With patients and myself. Also being humble enough to listen to your patients explain what’s going on with their bodies,” Erin said.
When Erin travels she likes the opportunity to help people locally and contribute to the place she’s visiting, and she was grateful she had that opportunity in Cambodia.