Dr. Khoi Quan, 27 years old, was admitted to the master's program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, with a scholarship from the Institute Director.
On January 24, Nguyen Khoi Quan, research coordinator at the Institute of Health Sciences, VinUniversity, received an email that he was accepted to Johns Hopkins University with a Dean's scholarship. This is the world's leading school in Public Health according to US News, in the top 15 best universities globally, according to THE.
The scholarship committee considered him an excellent candidate with the potential to succeed in a rigorous field like Public Health, making many contributions to public health in the future. With the Dean's scholarship, he was supported with 20,000 USD (nearly 500 million VND), equivalent to 25% of tuition.
Last September, Quan was accepted into Vingroup’s Science and Technology Scholarship for Master’s and Doctoral Studies abroad. Therefore, he was 100% covered.
"Receiving the scholarship is an honor for me. It is like a lever to help me have the opportunity to go further in my studies and research," Quan shared.
Khoi Quan participates in the VnExpress Marathon. Photo: Character provided
Quan said that in the year since he decided to study abroad, he applied twice. The last time, he was accepted to several schools, including College London (UK), ranked 4th globally in public health by US News, but postponed it to gain more experience and try new challenges.
According to him, experience lies not only in the number of published studies increased from 12 to 20, but also in the way of looking at health issues and expressing that in the personal statement. He believes that thinking critically about the field of research is something that Johns Hopkins University values in candidates, in addition to a deep vision of career plans.
"I wrote about the projects I worked on, my specific role and contribution in each project, through which I told my medical research journey and set specific goals for the future. All of this was contained in two pages, about 1,000 words," he said.
Dr. Quan admits that he is a person who learns a lot from observation. He started studying public health - a path that few medical students choose - three years ago, when he was about to receive his medical degree at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University. In the field of general medicine, most graduates follow the clinical orientation, which means studying for a residency or a specialist to work in a hospital. Quan had intended to do so, but the Covid-19 pandemic completely changed his career direction.
"Working in the hospital, I clearly see the burden of the epidemic on both doctors and patients, raising the issue of early detection and preventive measures. Looking deeper, I see that Vietnam is suffering from a double health burden of both infectious and non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, ...) due to the phenomenon of population aging," Quan shared.
Currently, he is interested in data science in the health field, especially the application of biostatistical methods to analyze data from electronic medical records and other data sources.
Khoi Quan (seated, second from right), at the Spring Cleaning Day festival at the university dormitory. Photo: Character provided
Before graduating, Quan was named in the group of authors researching the four waves of the Covid-19 epidemic in Vietnam, published in Frontiers magazine in the public health section, top 25% of the most influential academic journals in the world.
Looking back, Quan feels fortunate to have met good teachers and supportive communities that pushed him to go further. With the Johns Hopkins scholarship, he considers this to be just the first step of success and has the contribution of many people.
"My greatest luck is having teachers and friends who help me improve my professional knowledge, spend time supporting me, or simply lift my spirit by being there like a family," Quan said, especially thanking Associate Professor Dr. Le Cu Linh, who greatly influenced his decision to pursue public health research.
Mr. Le Cu Linh, Permanent Deputy Director of the Institute of Health Sciences, has directly guided and accompanied Quan for many years. He commented that his student is approachable, proactive, and has the potential to become a researcher and lecturer in health sciences.
"Quan is eager to learn, progressive, very hard-working and proactive in all activities. Quan also has good professional capacity and can handle many tasks at the same time. His academic contributions to the Institute are very significant," he shared.
Khoi Quan (right) with the first batch of medical students at VinUni University. Photo: Provided by the character
Despite being accepted to the world's top school, Quan said he will wait for the results of nearly 10 other schools to consider and choose a suitable place to study. He wants to research disease models and treatment effectiveness, focusing on developing countries in general and Vietnam in particular.
In addition, he continues to collaborate with the Online Research Club, a multinational scientific research community with nearly 300 members, and translates and writes articles sharing medical information for a Community Health website.
With the spirit of learning from observation and being open to new things, Quan is teaching himself Chinese, playing guitar and drawing latte art.
Phuong Anh
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