From an emergency case suggesting a journey
At the end of 1993, a 12-year-old girl was brought to Tien Giang General Hospital in a state of severe dengue fever shock. After many hours of intravenous fluids, using heart medication and oxygen, blood pressure still did not improve.
Called by colleagues in the middle of the night, Dr. Ta Van Tram immediately arrived. After reviewing the clinical developments and test results, he suggested blood transfusions even though the patient did not have clear bleeding symptoms. More than an hour later, the patient's pulse gradually became clear again, blood pressure increased and he overcame the critical condition.
For many doctors, it is just a successful shift. But for Dr. Tram, this raises a bigger question: how to save many other patients, not only thanks to the experience of each doctor but with modern medicine and a strong enough health system?
From that question, his career journey no longer stopped at the blouse. He began to expand his role to solve the problem from the root, from scientific research, hospital management to training medical personnel.
Each role is a way to save people
From the journey of finding solutions to problems arising right on the hospital bed, he directly and together with colleagues carried out nearly 320 research projects on dengue fever, hepatitis B, non-communicable diseases and health management. Many results are directly applied to treatment, contributing to reducing referrals, reducing costs and improving the quality of healthcare for people in the Mekong Delta.
Science only promotes value when placed in a system with sufficient capacity," with that thought, in his position as Director of Tien Giang General Hospital, Prof. Dr. Ta Van Tram and the leadership team developed more than 200 specialized techniques, expanded the treatment scale to nearly 1,800 actual beds, deployed electronic medical records, online consultations and remote treatment...
Behind those numbers are not only management achievements. That is more patients no longer having to be transferred to higher levels; more "golden time" is kept in emergency care; more families reduce the burden of costs and worries about long journeys.
But then he realized that no matter how good a doctor is, there is a limit. The limit is to multiply generations of doctors who are well-trained to continue taking care of people's health. That is why Prof. Dr. Ta Van Tram dedicates a lot of enthusiasm to education. He participates in teaching at many medical universities, guiding research students, postgraduate students and specialist doctors.
In his position as Principal of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Tra Vinh University), he promoted a model of linking the school with the hospital, using active teaching methods, putting learners at the center of training such as: online teaching, medical skills training, learning based on problems and clinical situations...
Thereby, helping the medical team not only be professionally solid but also proficient in technology, flexibly adapt to the digital age of healthcare, and well meet the requirements of innovation in the medical industry. What he always emphasizes to students is not only professional knowledge but also medical ethics, empathy and responsibility to patients.
From a broader perspective, he is also a dedicated intellectual and a community activist. For many years, he has accompanied scholarship programs, supported poor patients, mobilized resources for humanitarian activities and cared for people in difficult circumstances. For him, knowledge does not stop at laboratories or lecture halls but must return to serve society.
Looking back at nearly 4 decades of dedication, it can be seen that Prof. Dr. Ta Van Tram's journey was created from six imprints: a doctor, a scientist, a manager, an educator, an intellectual and a community activist.
Six seemingly different roles but all meet in one common point: helping people, especially people in the Mekong Delta, access high-quality medical services right in their homeland.
With contributions in medical examination and treatment, scientific research, management and training, Prof. Dr., People's Physician, Labor Hero Ta Van Tram was selected for consideration and honor in the Vinh Quang Vietnam 2026 Program.
