Prof. Dr. Pham Nhat An: Pediatrician "caring for children is not just about curing diseases

From "classroom amidst bombs and bullets" to leading pediatric experts

In 1970, amidst the still volatile context of war, Prof. Dr. Pham Nhat An became a student of Hanoi Medical University. The decision to take the medical major exam of the young man at that time originated from his mother's wish and the remorse for his father's passing after more than 3 years of treatment without clear cause.

Taking the university entrance exam at that time was very difficult, hundreds of candidates could only choose a few people," Professor An recalled.

However, passing the university entrance exam was only the starting point of a difficult journey. "We continuously had to evacuate. The classroom was temporarily built with bamboo and leaves in the middle of the mountains and forests, both studying and training air defense, participating in epidemic prevention in the attacked areas," he recounted.

In that situation, student Nhat An still maintained excellent academic results and passed the boarding exam as valedictorian, opening up the opportunity to choose his favorite major. And his love for children led him to the decision to stick with Pediatrics for a long time.

In 1976, he continued to be the valedictorian in the research exam and was sent to Bulgaria for training. His years of studying in Europe helped him build a systematic academic foundation and modern medical thinking to return to his homeland to contribute to the field of child health care.

Throughout his career, Professor An successively held many important management positions such as Vice Rector of Hanoi Medical University, Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Child Health Research.

After retiring in 2017, he continued to choose to stick with the Vinmec Health System in the role of Chairman of the Pediatric Specialized Council. Here, he made his mark with many complex pediatric cases. Typically, the case of a 4-year-old child in Tuyen Quang, who came for examination with symptoms of fever and prolonged rash, had been treated at many facilities but could not determine the cause. Based on clinical experience, he accurately diagnosed autoinflammatory syndrome - a rare, difficult-to-diagnose disease that is easily confused with common infections such as rash fever or hand, foot and mouth disease.

Or the case of a 5-year-old child suffering from internal organ parasites, after many months of ineffective treatment in the locality, the family took the child from Kien Giang to Hanoi to meet him and was cured. In addition, many rare cases of tuberculosis in children, as well as cases of meningitis with discreet manifestations, were detected early in the first 24 hours, thereby improving treatment effectiveness and minimizing sequelae.

At the age of over 70, Professor An is still persistent in medical examination and treatment and dedicates a lot of enthusiasm to orienting professional development. Currently, he also holds the position of Vice President of the Vietnam Pediatrics Association and Vice President of the Infectious Diseases Pediatrics Association.

Efforts to build a 4P standard Pediatrics specialty, for a healthy young generation

Looking back at the development path of Vietnamese Pediatrics, Prof. Dr. Pham Nhat An said "the changes in the past few decades have been a turning point, although originating from a difficult foundation after the war".

According to Professor An, the development of science and technology has created a major boost for modern Pediatrics. "From being able to treat symptoms only, modern medicine not only accurately diagnoses the cause, but also predicts risks and prevents diseases early, significantly improving the quality of life for children," he said.

Since accompanying Vinmec, Professor An has oriented the development of Pediatrics here according to the 4P medical model: Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, Participatory. "This is a model particularly suitable for children, groups with continuous physical, immune, and psycho-physiological development," said Professor An.

Currently, under the professional orientation of Professor An, the Pediatrics major at Vinmec is constantly improving its capacity through continuous training programs, while developing many specialized spearheads such as premature birth care, interventional gastrointestinal endoscopy, treatment of endocrine and genetic diseases... Not only that, he is gradually building a model of child health care in a proactive direction, focusing on preventive medicine and early detection of diseases.

Through neonatal screening programs, he oriented the implementation, many congenital diseases that were previously often only detected when they had clinical manifestations are now identified very early, including congenital hypothyroidism, genetic metabolic disorders, chromosomal abnormalities causing Down syndrome, Patau syndrome, Edward's syndrome, Turner's syndrome... In the following years of child development, growth development screening programs, early puberty risk assessment play a key role, helping to intervene promptly right from the time the disease is in the starting stage.

It is necessary to aim at building long-term health records, monitoring the development of children throughout their growth process, instead of just solving the problem with one visit," Professor An emphasized.

From a pediatric background that faced countless shortages, to a modern care model focusing on prevention, Vietnamese medicine is undergoing clear changes. For Prof. Dr. Pham Nhat An, participating in building this model is also a way to help him pursue the biggest goal of his career: Helping Vietnamese children receive health care earlier, better and more sustainably, on par with developed countries.