Mr. Thanh and his daughter Thanh Binh are second-year students at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy - Photo: NVCC
The day Mr. Nguyen Viet Thanh received the news that he was accepted into the university's medical school, and his daughter Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh was accepted into the school's preventive medicine program, Mr. Thanh was overwhelmed with happiness as his family officially had 3 people pursuing medicine.
Study to promote the spirit of "it is never too late to learn"
Mr. Thanh said he was born into a poor farming family in Thuy Binh commune, Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province. There were only two people in the family: a mother and son. At the age of 4, he contracted polio, leaving him with paralysis in his right leg until now.
After finishing high school, he passed the entrance exam to a university, but thinking about his family's difficult circumstances, his mother alone could not afford the tuition, so he turned to study intermediate medicine to shorten the time.
“During the 3 years and 6 months I studied at medical college, my mother had to borrow rice from everywhere to pay for my tuition and living expenses. I graduated in 2001, and in 2004 I was officially assigned to the commune health station.
During my work, many times I wanted to go to university to improve my skills, but because I had to worry about paying off debt and raising 3 children with my wife, my plan remained unfinished.
When the economy was more stable, he prioritized his wife's studies for three degrees: university of education, college of pharmacy and general practitioner," Mr. Thanh said.
Mr. Thanh said that the reason he wanted to pursue a career in medicine and wanted his wife and daughter to follow in his footsteps was because of his own story. “Since I was a child, I was often sick and had a disability in my legs, so I wanted to study medicine to help people. Luckily, both my wife and daughter supported me and decided to pursue the profession with me,” Mr. Thanh shared.
In 2023, when he saw that his wife had almost finished studying general medicine at Thai Binh Medical College, Mr. Thanh was determined to apply with his daughter to Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
After receiving the good news that both father and son had passed the exam, he resigned from his position as head of Thuy Van Commune Health Station to attend university and transferred to Thuy Lien Commune Health Station, about 700m from home, so that he could see patients outside of school hours.
Mr. Thanh took a photo with his wife and daughter. His wife also plans to go to university with her husband and daughter – Photo: NVCC
When U50 goes to medical school with Gen Z
Because all five members of his family go to school, to save money, Mr. Thanh rented a room for his daughter near the school, and he traveled about 30km by bus from home to school every day.
The school schedule runs from Monday to Friday, and some weeks he also attends on Saturdays. He gets on the bus to school at 5:30 a.m. and gets home around 6 p.m. on days when he attends all day.
Becoming a classmate with a very active Gen Z daughter, Mr. Thanh said that the first days were very stressful as he was the oldest "freshman" in the class, worried about not being able to keep up with the young Gen Z students. However, he also thought that this was also a lucky thing.
“We are in the same class so we study and compete together. Because I have experience in practical anatomy subjects, I will support my daughter. For English, which is my weakest subject, I asked my daughter to be my tutor and “offered a reward” that if I helped my father study for the exam and achieved 5 points, I would get an additional 500,000 VND for pocket money. In the end, I passed the exam and even got a higher score than my daughter,” Mr. Thanh said.
According to him, because his medical knowledge is very broad, studying and taking exams are also very difficult, especially when competing with young people. To be able to study anytime, anywhere, he uses his phone to record all lectures in class, and records his own exercises on his phone. Whenever he has free time, whether on the bus or during his shift, he listens to it to remember the lessons longer.
After 1.5 years of university, Mr. Thanh said he was more confident and adapted better. In a class of 72 students, his academic results were always in the middle.
According to him, going to university is to improve skills and have good expertise to serve the people better. In addition, he wants to encourage his children to "learn never too late". Mr. Thanh plans to continue working at Thuy Lien Commune Health Station after finishing university.
Thanh Binh (left) confidently participates in school activities with special support from her classmate, her father - Photo: NVCC
"I admire my father's studious spirit."
Thanh Binh said that when he received the news that both father and son were admitted and studying at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the whole family was very happy, but then hesitated because of financial worries when the whole family of 5 people were studying together.
“My father intended to continue to put his studies on hold to focus on paying my tuition, but my mother encouraged me to take out a student loan if it was money. If I continued to postpone my studies, I didn’t know if I would still have a chance to get into the university next year. With my mother’s encouragement, my father was determined not to miss the opportunity to go to university again,” Thanh Binh said.
As a classmate of his father, Thanh Binh said that in the beginning he was a bit hesitant and worried about not being able to be free, but this feeling quickly disappeared because the two of them officially entered the study race.
“To keep up with the study program, my father wakes up at 4am every day to study, conveniently cooking breakfast for the whole family. Except for when he is working, he studies at any time, anywhere, and when it is almost time to go to bed, he turns on the lecture to listen until he falls asleep. I admire my father's studious spirit. This is also a source of motivation for me to strive and follow,” Thanh Binh said.
Thanh Binh revealed that the student's father had long dreamed of opening a low-cost or free medical clinic to help people in difficult circumstances when he had a medical practice certificate.
The female student's mother is about to graduate with a degree in general medicine and is also planning to apply for university admission with her husband and daughter.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-va-con-tro-thanh-ban-hoc-cung-khoa-truong-y-20241217130329287.htm
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