The Ministry of Health proposes to remove the method of dividing specialist doctors I and specialist doctors II in order to innovate training in a flexible direction, close to capacity requirements. In fact, many people still do not understand how different inpatient doctors and specialist doctors are?
What is a resident doctor?
Resident doctors (BSNT) are a special type of postgraduate training for the health sector, designed to train specialist doctors with solid basic scientific foundations, systematic specialized knowledge and high practical skills.
According to the Regulation on training resident doctors issued with Decision 19/2006/QD-BYT, the BSNT program aims to train doctors who are capable of proactively solving professional issues in the field they are trained in. This is also considered one of the methods of training young experts for the health sector.
The special feature of BSNT is that learners are deeply trained in the hospital environment, both studying and researching and directly participating in professional activities under the guidance of experienced doctors.
The subjects of enrollment are also specific. According to regulations cited in the regulations, BSNT training is for doctors who have just graduated from formal medical university, wish to study and apply immediately after graduation.
The BSNT training program usually lasts 3 years. During this time, students are trained in depth according to their major, and at the same time accumulate a lot of clinical and paraclinical practice experience.
What's the difference between specialist doctors?
Unlike BSNT, specialist training is another postgraduate training direction of the medical industry. The system of specialist training titles includes specialist doctor I (BSCKI) and specialist doctor II (BSCKII).
It can be simply understood that BSCKI is a doctor who has been deeply trained in a specific field such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, dermatology, neurology... After completing the program and meeting the requirements according to regulations, the doctor is granted a corresponding specialist degree.
At a higher level, BSCKII continues to be deeply trained in the professional field. This is a higher level of specialized training than BSCKI, requiring learners to meet the standards of qualifications, experience and expertise according to regulations.
Thus, in essence, BSNT is a specific type of postgraduate training, while BSCKI and BSCKII are professional training levels/titles. These two paths both aim to improve the professional capacity of doctors but have different input requirements, programs and training processes.
Do resident doctors receive salary?
During the training period, resident doctor students are not entitled to salaries as doctors who have been recruited and appointed to professional titles. Depending on the program and training institution, students may have to pay tuition fees and enjoy support policies, scholarships or other regimes.
For doctors working in public non-business units, the salary level is determined according to professional title and salary coefficient, not only based on BSCKI or BSCKII degrees. Grade II doctors apply A2.1 coefficient from 4.40 - 6.78, while grade III doctors apply A1 coefficient from 2.34 - 4.98.
From July 1, 2026, with a base salary of 2.53 million VND/month, grade II doctors have a salary according to a coefficient of about 11.13 - 17.15 million VND/month, excluding allowances, subsidies and other income.
Thus, having a specialist degree does not automatically mean that doctors are entitled to the above salary level; actual income also depends on the title, job position, working unit and allowances.
