More medical training schools, more worries about incompetent doctors and weak skilled nurses

However, the current ratio of doctors per 10,000 people in Vietnam is still much lower than in the world.

Public opinion was stirred up when in early April, the Ministry of Education and Training allowed Hoa Binh University to train undergraduate medical majors. Previously, public opinion was worried when the University of Business and Technology also training in this industry. On social networks, some people worry that this is “universalization of doctors”.

Doctor training is booming, but…

According to a report from the Ministry of Health, currently the number of doctors per 10,000 people reaches 12.5. Health network planning for the period 2021 – 2030, vision to 2050, the goal that by 2025 Vietnam will have 15 doctors per 10,000 people.

Because of the increasing demand for health care, the field of health and pharmaceutical training has also become a hot industry, causing many training establishments to apply to open medical training. However, many people believe that the proliferation of medical training will not ensure the quality of training.

In 2023, medical benchmarks of universities across the country will have clear differences. The standard score difference between the highest group and the lowest group is more than 5 points. Among them, mainly public schools such as Hanoi Medical School, Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy, and Hanoi National University get the standard score of 27 – 28 points. Meanwhile, non-public schools have lower scores, fluctuating at only about 22 points.

Some schools use the results of the 2024 high school graduation exam or just use high school academic results (transcripts). According to information published on the website, a new university opening a medical training major in 2024 has announced that admission requirements for medical majors (except traditional medicine and pharmacy) require academic qualifications. Grade 12 ranked excellent or high school graduation score of 8.0 or higher.

Concerns about the practice environment

Having just graduated from Hanoi Medical University with a major in general medicine, Mr. Giang A Chinh (25 years old), working at Chuong My District General Hospital (Hanoi), believes that the quality of university entrance is very important. important, especially with medical training, it is even more important. Mr. Chinh shared that when he took the entrance exam to Hanoi Medical University, the major he studied had an entrance score of 29.5 points.

“The academic pressure of the medical field probably doesn’t need to be discussed. However, just working hard doesn’t mean you can study well because if you don’t have a good mindset, you won’t be able to receive medical knowledge. The medical field requires studying. throughout, continuously and must think logically when diagnosing and treating diseases,” Mr. Chinh commented.

Besides input, Mr. Chinh believes that the training environment is also very important. The medical profession requires exposure to the medical environment, an environment for clinical practice, and practical learning to be able to practice and study well. Mr. Chinh also believes that compared to private schools, the public environment, especially training schools with affiliated hospitals, will help students study better.

While studying as a general practitioner in the 6th year at a non-public university in Ho Chi Minh City, TL said he was practicing at the hospital. According to each specialty, the school will arrange at a different hospital to practice such as Hung Vuong Hospital, Binh Dan Hospital, Thong Nhat Hospital…

However, most doctors who have taught at a school with interns will give priority to students from that school. Patients will make distinctions, looking at each school’s logo to evaluate students.

“Usually, if a doctor examines, students will be able to follow him, be divided into rooms to ask questions, make medical records, and be on duty at night. Many days, patients complain of fatigue, and if students ask about their illness, many patients will feel uncomfortable. Choosing Choosing a big hospital according to your desire to practice is very difficult, students have few options,” L. confided.

Training is rampant, doctors lack capacity, and nurses have weak skills

Talking to Tuoi Tre, doctor Nguyen Huu Tung – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phan Chau Trinh University – commented that the current ratio of doctors and nurses per 10,000 people in Vietnam is still very low compared to other countries in the world. gender. There are many schools opening majors or schools specializing in health sector training, but the quality of training is not high.

The consequences of not having quality lead to a situation where doctors are incompetent in medical examination and treatment, and nurses are weak in patient care, leading to confusion and anxiety among people.

“When the training program is too easy and training resources are not high, people lose trust in young doctors. We lack many doctors and nurses, but the quality of training is not high,” Dr. Tung emphasized. strong.

Doctor Tung suggested that if you want to improve quality, you must invest in training doctors. Currently, training schools lack many things such as lack of hospitals for students to practice, lack of internship mechanisms, lack of practice facilities…

In fact, although hospitals have many patients, students do not have enough capacity to practice. Conversely, doctors at hospitals do not have time to guide students, leading to almost all students only reading theory. and graduate.

Many students have never seen an ultrasound machine and have not been able to diagnose diseases. It is necessary to set the standard that one teacher can only instruct five students, and must be independently evaluated to ensure that the new doctor is qualified when graduating, thus reducing enrollment. In fact, if there are few students, the school will not have enough finances to operate and pay for supplies.

“Countries around the world invest heavily in training human resources in the medical field. They must have simulation centers for students to practice and evaluate before approaching patients. Currently, most schools take patients. internship, but not enough intern patients due to too many students,” Dr. Tung added.

Talking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training (Ministry of Health), said there are currently three ministries managing training in the field of health. College and intermediate training is managed by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the General Department of Vocational Education; University training with all university majors, including the health field, managed by the Ministry of Education and Training; Intensive and specific training such as resident doctors, specialist I, specialist II are managed by the Ministry of Health.

“According to management regulations, when schools open university training majors, the Ministry of Education and Training mainly manages them. However, before applying to open training majors in the health field, units will have to apply Opinions on whether the industry needs training or not.

Second is whether the practical conditions for developing the project are guaranteed or not. The Ministry of Health will answer these two questions, the rest will be managed by the Ministry of Education and Training from facilities and lecturers…”, Mr. Long stated.

Mr. Long added that currently the Ministry of Health is also very interested in the quality of medical human resource training. Currently, public and non-public training establishments open many faculties and branches of medical training.

When opening a major, hospitals create a project with criteria to ensure all requirements, have lecturers, have training facilities… However, how the schools then actually implement it is not easy to manage. physical.