Nguyễn Minh Lợi

Nguyễn Minh Lợi, deputy director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training, under the Ministry of Health talks to Vietnam News Agency on Việt Nam’s plan to establish a University of Health Science.

This school year marks the first with the Revised Law on Tertiary Education. What are some of the new contents relating to the training of biomedical science?

This school year is the second year for the training of biomedical science in Việt Nam in the course of implementing Resolution No 20 of the Party Central Committee, the 12th Legislature, toward taking care of and improving people’s health. Yet it is the first year the Revised Law on Tertiary Education has come into force.

To implement Resolution No 20 of the Party Central Committee, the Ministry of Health has submitted to the Prime Minister two proposals. The first is about the establishment of the National Medical Council and the other is the establishment of the University of Health Science.

In the course of implementing the resolution, we have seen positive changes in health training courses – in terms of quality of human resources and conformity with international norms and practices.

Could you tell us about the proposal to establish the University of Health Science?

Bio-medical science covers many areas, including the heredity science, anatomy, physiology, biology, public health, traditional medicine and others.

Nowadays, in Việt Nam we have some national universities, like the Hà Nội National University and the Hồ Chí Minh National University; or regional universities of Thái Nguyên, Huế and Đà Nẵng. All these models have been reflected in the revised Law on Tertiary Education.

About 20 years ago, the idea of establishing a Health Science University was already touched upon. That university would be located in Hà Nội and HCM City. There would be many schools in these universities, including the Medical School, Law School, Pharmaceutical School, Public Health School and others. Under this model, all school members will share among themselves the main resources, including the management apparatus and basic investment for their main subjects.

We are now in the course of developing a proposal to find the most appropriate model for our country. Of course, such a model must be based on Vietnamese laws and in conformity with Vietnamese traditions.

For example, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of HCM City is a not-for-profit public medical school. At present, the University is developing a proposal for changing its name to the University of Health Science. The proposal is with the Prime Minister, waiting for his approval.

How will future national exams for medical licences be conducted?

Sitting a national exam for a medical licence is common around the world nowadays. The Ministry of Public Health has already included this idea in the revised Law on Health Examination. However, the national examination for a medical licence is only applied to people who have not yet got licences for their medical practice.

The National Medical Council will be in charge of organising such an examination. — VNS