Doctor graduates cannot be examined and treated immediately
Each year, Vietnam has about 10,000 - 12,000 doctors graduating from more than 200 medical human resource training institutions, including 66 universities.
According to new regulations in the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, from 2027, doctors after graduation will not be allowed to practice immediately but must pass a competency assessment test organized by the National Medical Council. This regulation is implemented according to a roadmap to avoid causing disruption to practitioners and training institutions.
Accordingly, in 2027, the evaluation will begin for 4 doctor titles including: Medical doctor, dentist - maxillofacial dentist, traditional medicine doctor and preventive medicine doctor. In 2028, it will apply to doctors, nurses and midwives. By 2029, the evaluation will be expanded to other titles such as medical techniques, clinical nutrition, extrahospital emergency resuscitation and clinical psychology. Thus, all medical titles must pass the competency assessment before being licensed to practice.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Tien, Standing Vice Chairman of the National Medical Council, said that the evaluation aims to ensure that practitioners have sufficient professional capacity, skills and professional ethics. This is an important step to standardize the quality of medical human resources, improve the quality of medical examination and treatment services and ensure safety for patients, while creating a foundation for international integration.
The inspection and assessment of professional competence is regulated in the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment in 2023 and guided in Decree 96/2023/ND-CP. Accordingly, the person requesting a practicing license must participate in the competency assessment test.
For doctors participating in the first examination in 2027, basic conditions include: Having a doctor's degree and completing medical practice time as prescribed. Only those who pass the examination will be considered for practicing licenses.
In the first phase, the test is expected to focus on the theory part according to the competency standards of each position, computer-based multiple-choice tests and organized in many areas. However, due to the first nationwide deployment, building regulations, a question bank and candidate psychology may be initial challenges.
Towards a common competency standard for the medical industry
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, Rector of Hanoi Medical University, Head of the Organizing Committee of the medical examination and treatment competency assessment test, said that the test is built with 4 key objectives.
First, ensure the quality of healthcare for people through confirming the practical capacity of medical staff. Second, establish a unified national standard on professional competence in the context that medical training institutions currently have different input and output standards.
Third, the exam is a tool to assess competence according to medical standards, creating a foundation for learners to continue to develop expertise suitable for the training industry. Finally, the exam aims at international integration, contributing to standardizing the capacity of Vietnamese medical staff according to common standards.
Through this test, the professional capacity of the medical team will be evaluated objectively, transparently and according to common standards," Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu emphasized.
Currently, there are about 37 higher education institutions nationwide training general practitioners and traditional medicine doctors, including 18 public schools, and the rest are non-public. The Northern region concentrates many public medical schools, while the South has many private multi-disciplinary schools training in this field.
However, according to experts, although the number of training institutions is quite diverse, the quality of training still has many issues to consider.
Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training (Ministry of Health) said: About 50% of medical training institutions currently do not update programs according to the output standards of the Ministry of Health.This puts many young doctors at risk of not passing the competency assessment to be granted a practicing certificate.
According to Mr. Quang, after graduating and completing the practical time, learners must pass the test organized by the National Medical Council to be licensed for medical examination and treatment.
While previously general practitioners studied for 6 years and could go to work after a period of practice, the current training process is being stratified and more specialized as many students continue to study in residency, specialist, master's or doctoral programs.
