Female medical student wins master's scholarship after half a year of preparation

Determined to study abroad for a master's degree when entering her final year at Hanoi Medical University, Ha Thao Linh did not dare to think of winning a full scholarship the first time she "applied".

Ha Thao Linh (24 years old, Hanoi) graduated from the Preventive Medicine major of Hanoi Medical University in June with a thesis score of 10 points. Linh's thesis was about the number of cancer cases and deaths related to behavior and lifestyle in Vietnam. This is also the topic of the article Linh is the main author of, published in the International Journal of Cancer , Q1 journal - the most prestigious and difficult to publish in the international journal category.

In April, before achieving the above achievements, Linh was admitted to the master's program in Epidemiology at the University of Antwerp - a Belgian school ranked 7th by Times Higher Education among the best schools under 50 years old in the world in 2023.

About a month later, Linh received a letter of acceptance for the VLIR-UOS scholarship from the Belgian Government for the above program. With this scholarship, Linh was supported with about 33,600 EUR (875 million VND), including all tuition fees, accommodation costs, and insurance during the study period.

"I was very surprised, I couldn't even believe it because I didn't decide to study abroad until my final year of university and only had about 6 months to research and prepare my application," Linh said.

Only now, after starting her first classes in Belgium, Thao Linh is sure that she has gone through a "rushed but wonderful journey".

Thao Linh after her thesis defense at Hanoi Medical University. Photo: Provided by the character

Linh shared that entering her final year, when she no longer had to do clinical work, she began to think about what to do after graduation. Linh acknowledged that Preventive Medicine did not have as many clear directions as Medicine.

After some deliberation, Linh decided to go abroad to "see how students around the world study". Deciding to study abroad in September 2022, Linh spent three months researching scholarships because "without a scholarship, I can't go".

However, Linh decided to "do it herself" instead of going to study abroad centers. The female student searched through websites, made a list of her desired majors, schools, countries, and the requirements and scholarship levels for each major. Then, she went on Facebook to connect with seniors. Even though she did not know them, when she saw someone who had won a scholarship that interested her, Linh texted them for support. She also quickly took the IELTS exam and achieved 7.0.

"Most government scholarships require two years of work experience. Some scholarships accept applications too early. In the end, I found the Belgian scholarship most reasonable because it only encourages experience and does not require it," Linh said. She decided to apply for the Epidemiology program in Belgium, and at the same time sent her application to more than 10 other schools in Europe.

An application package includes a CV, motivational essay, recommendation letter, English certificate and related documents such as transcripts and diplomas. Linh spent about 3 months preparing, from December 2022 to February 2023. Most of the time was spent on the essay.

As the vice president of the English Club of Hanoi Medical University, Linh knew some teachers who had studied and researched abroad. She took advantage of this relationship to ask for guidance, while a series of thoughts surrounded her, not knowing how to put it into her essay.

Finally, Linh also had a complete essay. She shared about herself, her achievements, and connections to show her suitability for the field of Epidemiology. Linh also commented on how this field supplemented her knowledge and gave her direction after graduation, returning to work in Vietnam.

Thao Linh (second from right) won first prize at the school's English scientific research conference in 2022. Photo: Character provided

According to Linh, scientific research activities are the factor that helps her score points with the admissions board.

Linh participated in the school-level scientific research conference in English for two consecutive years and won one first prize and one second prize. When applying for the scholarship, although her paper had not been published yet, the fact that she had submitted it to a prestigious journal was also a good proof.

Scientific research involves many stages. During her first two years of university, Linh mainly asked lecturers to participate in the simplest stages such as collecting and supporting data entry. From being shy and clumsy the first times she collected data, measured height and weight to support a research topic on obesity in children under 5 years old, Linh gradually became more proficient.

In addition, instead of constantly looking up new words when reading foreign documents like in the beginning, Linh gradually reads better. According to her, this is an important skill for researchers.

Once proficient in these tasks, Linh learned to analyze data, write articles, give presentations in front of crowds, delve into research methods, and learn how to handle pressure.

"The pressure of doing research is huge, sometimes I feel discouraged because I have to revise an article over and over again," Linh said. Like last December, when she had to revise an article to submit to an international journal, write an essay and complete her study abroad application, Linh was so stressed that she thought she would have to give up. She had to spend many trekking sessions and do yoga to balance it out.

As a result, in addition to the article in Q1 magazine and the scholarship from the Belgian Government, Linh was also accepted to a number of schools in the Netherlands and the UK with 20-50% tuition support.

Linh on a bike ride. Photo: Character provided

Guiding Linh's research for over two years and supporting her with her study abroad application, Mr. Pham Thanh Tung, lecturer of Physiology at Hanoi Medical University, assessed Linh as confident and serious in her work.

"Linh always listens and has the most appropriate approach when the teacher and student discuss together," said Mr. Tung. This lecturer also highly appreciates Linh's initiative, always "reminding" him to correct the assignment on time.

Winning a master’s scholarship after only about 6 months of research and preparation is like a dream for Linh. The Hanoi girl hopes to learn many new things in the next two years, preparing for her future work.

Vnexpress.net