To strengthen the quality and international integration of its health professional education, Viet Nam has recently established the National Medical Council, chaired by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, Minister of Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Office for Viet Nam congratulates the Government for establishing the council that is mandated to develop and set standards for health professional training and practice and prepare for national assessments of medical school graduates in the future.
“Health professional education reform is a transformation agenda for the future and I congratulate the Government of Viet Nam for this milestone”, says Dr Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Viet Nam. “Medical education reform continues to be one of WHO’s priorities in Viet Nam and is critical for the country’s ability to meet its changing health needs,” he added.
The work of the National Medical Council on national assessments will be guided by the ongoing revision of the Law of Examination and Treatment (LET) which is likely to include details of graduate health professional assessment and issues such as re-licensing of health professionals.
The number of universities training doctors in Viet Nam has roughly doubled since 1997 and the number of new doctors graduating yearly has risen almost three-fold since 2006. Like many other countries, although the number of graduates continues to increase significantly, Viet Nam faces the challenge of improving the quality of graduating health professionals.
WHO Viet Nam has been providing strategic and technical support to the establishment of the National Medical Council for several years, along with other international partners. In addition, WHO Viet Nam will continue to work with the ongoing wider government plans to improve health workforce education, planning and regulation in line with WHO’s global priorities which underscore the importance of human resources in the health system.