The Heart of a People's Doctor

From his time in office until his retirement, Dr. Truong Tan Minh, a People's Physician and former Director of the Khanh Hoa Department of Health, has always maintained his desire to support the community. The heart of this elderly doctor remains devoted to those in need.

A journey of enduring volunteerism.

Nearly eight years have passed, but the family of Mr. Vo Qui (Binh Tri village, Ninh Binh commune, Ninh Hoa town) still keeps a photograph of their new, spacious house on its inauguration day, placed next to their old, low-ceilinged, dilapidated house with mud walls… as a reminder of the kindness of Dr. Truong Tan Minh – Chairman of the Association for the Support of Disabled People, Poor Patients, and Children's Rights in the province. “The new house is spacious, with three rooms for my parents, my wife and I, and our two sons. On the inauguration day, the whole family stood admiring the house, still feeling like we were dreaming. If it weren't for Dr. Minh, this house would still only be a dream for my family,” Mr. Qui shared.

Dr. Truong Tan Minh received the title of People's Physician in 2017.

Dr. Truong Tan Minh recalled that in 2017, the Provincial Association for the Support of Disabled People, Poor Patients, and Children's Rights organized a gift-giving event for poor but studious students in Ninh Binh commune. When he visited Mr. Qui's house, he was stunned to see a dilapidated mud-walled house, propped up with wooden supports, with many holes in the roof and tarpaulins scattered everywhere. Inside, a grandmother over 70 years old, suffering from a stroke and a fractured femur, and a grandfather over 80 years old, both ill, were lying on the floor… “Returning home, I stayed awake all night and decided to share Mr. Qui's family situation on my personal Facebook page. Surprisingly, three days later, I received over 100 million VND from benefactors to help build a house for the family. Overjoyed, I quickly called Mr. Qui to tell him, but the whole family couldn't believe it…” – Dr. Minh recounted, his eyes sparkling with joy. Mr. Qui added: “The house we received support for was worth a total of 128 million VND. At that time, my family was near-poor, my wife and I worked as laborers, our two children were in high school, just having enough to eat was a blessing, let alone thinking about building a house. A few days after the house was completed, Typhoon No. 12 struck. In the morning, looking at the old house that had been swept away and collapsed by the storm, I shuddered, imagining what would have happened if the whole family were still living in it…”

Doctor Truong Tan Minh presents a new house to Mr. Vo Qui's family.

After retiring in 2010, Dr. Truong Tan Minh joined the Provincial Association for the Support of People with Disabilities, Poor Patients, and Children's Rights as Vice President, then President, and continued his charitable activities. He traveled extensively to connect with and mobilize support for the association's activities; proactively coordinating and organizing numerous fundraising programs. From the time he joined the association until the end of 2024, he and its members connected with and assisted tens of thousands of people. The association mobilized over 124 billion VND to support medical equipment for several hospitals; contributed to the treatment of cataracts, orthopedic injuries, cleft palate, and cleft lip for over 1,000 patients in difficult circumstances; provided nearly 1 million free meals for poor patients; and built 16 new houses (100 million VND/house). The association donated 1,500 wheelchairs and bicycles to people with disabilities and poor students, and awarded over 1,000 scholarships to students, over 10,000 gifts to beneficiaries of the association's support program, and provided livelihood support to nearly 1,000 people… In 2024 alone, from mobilized funds of over 13.4 billion VND, the association assisted more than 100,000 people with disabilities, poor patients, and disadvantaged children in building houses, supporting livelihoods, purchasing health insurance, improving meals, and buying medical equipment…

Contributing to the improvement of the healthcare system in Khanh Hoa.

Before becoming Chairman of the Provincial Association for the Support of People with Disabilities, Poor Patients, and Children's Rights, in his leadership position at the Department of Health, Dr. Truong Tan Minh made significant contributions to the development of the healthcare system in Khanh Hoa.

In 1982, after graduating from university, he was assigned to the Dermatology Hospital as the team leader of the provincial leprosy prevention and control team. At that time, leprosy was one of the "four incurable diseases," so everyone was afraid; patients even hid their illness for fear of stigma. Witnessing the suffering and pain of leprosy patients, he and his team did not hesitate to cycle to each village to examine each person, for months on end. "Back then, we weren't afraid of difficulties or hardships; we only hoped to go faster, to arrive sooner so that patients could receive timely treatment and regain their confidence," Dr. Minh shared. Dr. Tran Thi Kim Thanh, a member of the provincial leprosy prevention and control team at the time, recounted: “We were often chased out of people's homes because they feared that if the disease was discovered, their neighbors would shun us. Understanding this, Dr. Minh both encouraged us and devised various ways to educate people so that they would understand the disease correctly and not discriminate against or shun leprosy patients. Once, when a theatrical troupe came to the village to perform, the doctor arrived early and asked for 30 minutes before the show to give a presentation…” Thanks to that dedication, many leprosy patients were cured.

Doctor Truong Tan Minh presents a gift to a patient in Ninh Hoa town.

In 1990, Dr. Truong Tan Minh was appointed Director of the Dermatology Hospital. He then pursued postgraduate studies in healthcare management in Thailand, after which he was appointed Deputy Director and then Director of the Department of Health in 1998, successfully defending his doctoral dissertation in medicine in 2001. In 2004, while visiting a commune health station and seeing its dilapidated facilities, he pondered how to rebuild it to make it more modern, as health stations are the closest to the people and provide the quickest emergency care. He, along with the leadership of the Department of Health, gradually proposed investing in modern facilities, equipment, and training for healthcare personnel. He personally mobilized all his connections to fund the reconstruction of a total of 69 commune-level health stations and supported the training of over 100 doctors in preventive medicine; the total amount of funding raised was approximately 4.6 million USD. With the advice of the Department of Health, the remaining health stations were also newly built and equipped with many facilities such as ultrasound machines, biochemical testing equipment, dental equipment, etc. "During the period 2004 - 2006, Khanh Hoa was assessed by the Ministry of Health as having the most modern health stations in the whole country," said Dr. Truong Tan Minh.

After completing the commune-level program, he then campaigned for the construction of district-level hospitals, the renovation of several provincial-level hospitals, and the investment in modern medical equipment; he also invited medical experts from Ho Chi Minh City to transfer technology...

Continue to connect and share.

Explaining his choice to treat and support the underprivileged, Dr. Minh recounted that as a child, he greatly admired the mobile medical examination vehicles that came to examine the villagers and dreamed of becoming a doctor. However, life in his hometown of Phu Tho village (Ninh Diem commune, Ninh Hoa district) was very difficult at that time. When he was two years old, his father joined the army and died. His mother remarried, and he lived with his paternal grandparents. While in secondary school, he had to drop out for four years to help his family herd cattle. But he still nurtured his dream of becoming a doctor. He asked his family to let him learn tailoring to support himself and continue studying at night. In 1972, he went to Saigon to work as a tailor to make a living and continue pursuing his dream. In 1975, he passed the entrance exam to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, beginning his journey to becoming a doctor specializing in internal medicine, pediatrics, and infectious diseases.

We said goodbye to the 75-year-old doctor when he received a phone call from a benefactor arranging to deliver gifts to patients at the Provincial General Hospital. He simply said, "My life has been full of difficulties, but I've also received help from many people to fulfill my dreams. Therefore, I must do my best to help others in return to repay their kindness." His friends all know that a stroke has left him with dozens of blood vessel dilation rings, but that doesn't seem to stop his warm heart from urging his feet to continue serving the community.

In 2009, Dr. Truong Tan Minh was awarded the title of "Outstanding Physician" by the President of Vietnam. In 2017, he was honored with the title of "People's Physician". Besides his professional and charitable activities, he also writes poetry and composes music. To date, he has composed over 100 musical works and published two music collections ( Truong Tan Minh's Love Songs , released in 2019; and Words of a Loving Heart , released in 2024).

NGUYEN VU - CAT DAN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/phong-su/202504/tam-long-cua-nguoi-thay-thuoc-nhan-dan-32d76d4/