Medical doctor training should meet social demand




Ha Noi, Feb. 19 (VNA) -- Training of medical doctors should match social demand, which, argues a senior professor, is mostly for high-tech medicine and primary healthcare.

Ha Noi Medical College Rector, Associate Professor and Academician Ton That Bach, says in an article for the national daily Nhan Dan on Feb. 19 that Viet Nam should change its long-standing assumption that a physician needs just a graduate diploma to practise. Most other countries in the world have already changed, he says.

He points out that in a fast-changing technological world, medical graduates are not qualified to master advanced technology after six years of study. They, therefore, are required to undergo another three years of further training mixed with probation for clinical doctors, and an additional two years for "biological doctors".

The training of "biological doctors" mainly in logic is still alien in Viet Nam, which, however, should be added now to the national training curriculum, says Bach.

Only with two years' further training can biological doctors master the laboratory technology that helps them further develop techniques for basic medicine, he says.

For the training of primary healthcare doctors, Bach says they should also be trained in preventive medicine and develop their knowledge about medical information and healthcare management.

Doctors-owners of private clinics should also have these qualifications, so they can work for community-based healthcare.

Bach calls for mobilising the private healthcare system, including the training of family doctors, to support the public system.--VNA