News and Events

Vietnamese people’s health will be compromised in the near future because many medical universities are lowering their admission bar at the moment.

In fact, candidates can now be admitted to an undergraduate course at a medical school if they score average on the national standardized tests annually given by the Ministry of Education and Training, whereas top-tier institutions like the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hanoi Medical University, or Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy usually accept those who score more than 24 out of the maximum 30 points.

The two schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for example, set 26 as the admission benchmark for the 2012-13 school year, while Vo Truong Toan, a college in the southern province of Hau Giang, recruited applicants scoring a mere 15 points on the tests.

Vo Truong Toan is not alone, since Hong Bang and Nguyen Tat Thanh, two universities in the southern city, also admitted test takers with similar performance to their medical courses in this academic year, which already began earlier this month.

Similarly, candidates scoring half of the total points were all admitted to the healthcare majors at Tay Do University, located in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

‘Open’ admissions like this have raised concern among educators, who say that it is tantamount to betting on people’s health.

Dr Nguyen Duc Nghia, vice director of the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, said that only excellent candidates can follow courses in healthcare science, as it is related to human lives.

“Medical education must be understood as an elite education, which requires learners to excel both in theory and practice,” Dr Nghia elaborated.

An academic staff member at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy echoed Dr Nghia’s remarks, underscoring that it would be very difficult for average-performing applicants to keep up with their peers in medical courses.

Healthcare and education experts have all warned that Vietnam will pay a price in the next ten years if it keeps compromising on the quality of medical courses.

“Because it is virtually impossible to differentiate between good and bad professionals then,” they said.

An undergraduate medical program can last up to six years in the country.