The 2023 university admission season caused controversy when 4 universities announced that Literature would be included in the admission combination for the medical major. Specifically, Van Lang University (HCMC) in 2023 has 3 traditional combinations A00, B00 and D08 and 1 new combination D12 (Literature, Chemistry, English).
Vo Truong Toan University (Hau Giang) and Tan Tao University (Long An) use combination B03 (Math, Literature, Biology) in the method of considering high school graduation exam scores to recruit medical students. Duy Tan University also recruits medical students using 4 combinations: A16 (Math, Natural Sciences, Literature), B00, D90 (Math, Natural Sciences, Foreign Languages) and D08.
Medical students practice. (Illustration photo: TP)
'Admission at all costs'
"Who dares to affirm that doctors who are good at Literature have good medical ethics?", Dr. Bui Thi Huong, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, questioned the opinion that enrolling medical students in Literature will help future doctors become more humane, communicate better and improve medical ethics.
According to Dr. Huong, it is unreasonable for schools to include Literature in their admissions because people have two main tendencies: being good at natural sciences or good at social sciences. There are very few people who are good at both, let alone mass recruitment. Including English and Physics in the same combination of Math - Biology or Chemistry - Biology for medical recruitment is still acceptable.
If we are concerned that future doctors and nurses lack medical ethics and poor communication skills, we can add this skill to university classes or as a factor in the process of obtaining a practice certificate. "However, these concerns are just excuses for the reckless recruitment actions of some schools," he said frankly.
The fact that schools add Literature to the admissions combination has caused controversy among the public. Dr. Huynh Thanh Phat, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, frankly stated that the addition of Literature to the medical entrance exam has no real meaning, but simply wants to increase competition and attract candidates "at all costs". The strange admissions combination only appears in private schools and schools with difficulty recruiting students. Major universities in the medical and pharmaceutical sector do not implement this absurdity.
Many schools recruit and train students in an unsatisfactory manner, causing the basis for medical admission to be distorted. This leads to the risk of reduced training quality, which in the long run endangers human life.
In countries around the world, medical school admissions are very strict, requiring students to have excellent knowledge of natural sciences, a love for the profession and a real passion for research. During the admissions process, schools often require candidates to write an essay to assess their language and expression skills.
However, this is also a secondary criterion, accounting for no more than 20% of the score compared to other knowledge and skills sections. Therefore, schools in Vietnam should learn from this admission model instead of including Literature as the main admission subject.
Professor Nguyen Anh Tri, National Assembly Delegate of Hanoi, former Director of the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, affirmed that medical training is an important issue, so any change in the enrollment plan must go through a research process and impact assessment.
"When Literature is included in the admissions exam, it must be evaluated by scientists, especially medical scientists. Then, it needs to be legalized, not each school enrolling students in a different way, each year changing the way it is," said Professor Nguyen Anh Tri.
Looking back at the medical training process, Professor Nguyen Anh Tri said that the important subjects used as the basis for medical admission are Math, Chemistry, and Biology. If there is a need for innovation in the admission process, it must be based on scientific grounds.
Expressing his opposition to the admission exam for the medical major including Literature, Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases - Neurology, Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, stated that the most important qualities of a medical student are accuracy and logic, in addition to a good foundation of Biology knowledge.
Compassion and sharing are the results of a long-term education process from school, family, and society, not that those who are good at literature are more compassionate.
Many experts oppose the fact that medical schools have Literature as a subject. (Illustration photo)
Whose responsibility is it?
On May 28, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Training, said that in the coming time, the Ministry will review the overall admission methods of schools. If necessary, it will request relevant training institutions to report and explain issues of concern to society.
However, the Director also emphasized that in the issue of enrollment and training in the medical sector, the role of the Ministry of Health is particularly important. According to the Prime Minister's decision, the Ministry of Health is in charge of developing training program standards for the medical sector. In particular, it must ensure not only the regulations on input standards, but also other requirements on quality conditions and output standards for each field, group of fields, and training sector.
The entrance standards of the training program need to clearly define the minimum requirements for qualifications, abilities, and experience appropriate to each level, industry, and training orientation that learners need to meet in order to successfully study and complete the training program.
When regulating the entrance standards, the Ministry of Health needs to clearly stipulate the requirements on knowledge, capacity... of learners, which may include requirements on knowledge of subjects in the admission combination or entrance capacity assessment test.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Department of Science, Technology and Training, Ministry of Health, said that in terms of management, the Ministry of Education and Training is the focal point for higher education, including health training. The Ministry of Health does not manage input and output, but only sets standards as a basis for building and developing training program standards. In addition, the Ministry inspects and reviews the implementation of requirements in practice at medical schools.
According to Mr. Long, the health field is basically a natural science, requiring logical thinking, quick analysis, and accurate assessment. Therefore, the subjects of Math, Biology, and Chemistry are very important and necessary for the health field.
The representative of the Department of Science, Technology and Training also noted that schools need to consider the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment amended in 2023. According to this Law, to be granted a license to practice, graduates must pass a computer-based multiple-choice test of the National Medical Council. In particular, schools need to be responsible for recruiting and training, not letting students waste 6 years of studying but graduate with inadequate knowledge and skills, unable to pass the exam.
Thus, when both Ministries spoke up, experts and public opinion still could not figure out who was responsible for managing the school's admission of medical students with strange combinations.
The Ministry of Education and Training should regulate the admission combination for the Health sector.
The leader of a university in the field of Medicine and Pharmacy said that the current regulations on university and college admissions issued by the Ministry of Education and Training have stipulated a threshold to ensure input quality (floor score) for the two fields of Pedagogy and Health. To ensure input quality for these two fields, the Ministry should stipulate additional hard combinations that schools are allowed to use for admission. For example, the Health field requires admissions to include Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics, which helps reduce the rate of strange combinations being used for admission.
At the same time, both the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health should coordinate to find a reasonable solution, not to let students waste 6 years of experience in vain, and furthermore, human lives, this person proposed.
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