Boarding doctor training is not for the purpose of granting new academic degrees
The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is in the process of developing and finalizing the draft Law on Higher Education (amended). The draft Law is being consulted by the National Assembly and is expected to be approved in this 10th session.
In report No. 2028 sent to National Assembly delegates, explaining and accepting opinions on the draft Law on Higher Education (amended), the Ministry of Education and Training said that programs such as boarding doctors, specialties I, specialties II... are postgraduate professional training, managed by the Ministry of Health on professional content, capacity standards and grassroots practice assessments, aiming to form professional practice capacity (such as specialized training programs on finance, auditing...), not aiming to grant new academic degrees (such as master's, doctoral degrees) in the National Education System cau truc framework or the National qualifications framework.
The Ministry of Health is also not a State management agency of the national diploma system.
"The complete conversion of the program as a postgraduate qualification level in the National Qualification Framework will disrupt the unity of the qualification and degree system, the academic significance of master's and doctoral degrees, and at the same time make it difficult to recognize degrees, convert credits and mutually recognize in the international educational environment" - the Ministry of Education and Training stated.
In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training believes that medical training is closely linked to professional competence standards, professional ethics and patient safety - factors that can only be verified in a professional practice environment, under the supervision of professional councils and qualified medical facilities.
These requirements cannot replace the usual academic quality assurance mechanism such as program assessment or output standards or vice versa. If we move specialized training programs in medicine to the postgraduate education system of national education, the assessment and assessment risks separating from the practical practice environment, leading to a decline in professionalism, training efficiency and potential risks.
Resident doctors are the elite, cannot be considered a practice certificate
In response to the provisions in the draft Law on Higher Education (amended), National Assembly delegate Nguyen Tri Thuc (Ministry of Health) said that considering training for doctors in specialties 1, 2 and resident doctors as a practice certificate is incorrect. He affirmed that they are the quintessence and great intellectual of the medical industry.
The delegate analyzed and clarified: Currently, after graduation, doctors will be almost divided into two groups. The first group follows the teaching direction at universities, aiming for master's and doctoral degrees. The second group will work in hospitals, practice and study majors 1, 2 and inpatient.
The delegate affirmed that the boarding force is the quintessence of the medical industry. Therefore, considering specialties 1, 2 and boarding as training for practice certificates is completely incorrect.
"This is an incorrect view of the core force practicing in the medical industry," he said.
Sharing the same view, delegate Tran Khanh Thu (Thai Binh delegation) said that the comments of the Ministry of Education and Training are unfair to the postgraduate training system in the health sector.
She believes that the structure of postgraduate training programs in health majors is completely consistent with academic training programs and fully complies with current training regulations.
Therefore, the delegate expressed: "The health sector strongly recommends adding postgraduate training degrees in the health sector to the national graduation certificate system so that more than 40,000 health workers have enough legal basis to recognize their trained degrees and towards international standard regulations".
Delegate Tran Nhi Ha (Hanoi delegation) also affirmed the view that training medical human resources, especially specialized qualifications, is not only academic training in academics but must be associated with clinical practice at medical examination and treatment facilities.
"Specialty training cannot be replaced by master's or doctoral training programs. Currently, the system trains more than 7,000 specialists each year, forming a core force for the health sector" - the delegate said.
Affirming that this is a sustainable and effective model that needs to be fully and commensurate recognized by the law, the delegate raised the issue, if we cannot clearly establish the legal position of specialized training in the law, the Vietnamese medical team will face difficulties in the integration process, the competitiveness of resources, and national medical human resources will also be affected, etc.
In Vietnam, there are three forms of postgraduate training in the health sector in addition to master's and doctoral training: Level I Specialist (CKI), Level II Specialist (CKII) and Boarding Doctor (BSNT).
This model has been inherited from the French system and maintained for more than 50 years (BSCNT, CKI since 1972; BSCKII since 1974), managed by the Ministry of Health and trained by medical and pharmaceutical universities.
