On the morning of August 3^rd, in Hanoi, Vietnam Military Medical University (hereafter VMMU) held the 13th annual medical and pharmaceutical training conference in 2024. Lieutenant General, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Kien, Director VMMU chaired the conference. Attending the conference were the delegates from concerned agencies and units under the Ministry of National Defense as well as all the educational institutions and schools within and beyond the Army and the University.

The delegates attending the conference

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Lieutenant General, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Kien emphasized that after 4 years of implementing teaching and learning schemes based on the integrated military medical training with mid-cycle adjustments, the 13th annual medical and pharmaceutical program themed “Innovation in integrated training of military medical doctors: Difficulties and solutions” aims to comprehensively evaluate the process. This includes the identification of all the limitations and causes as well as proposal of basic and practical solutions for continued improvement of training programs and the quality of program implementation, taking into consideration the teaching staff, military students, medical facilities, and functional hospitals.

Lieutenant General, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Kien delivered the opening conference speech

This conference has provided the delegates with an opportunity to share, exchange, and discuss the feasible solutions to the development of integrated training programs, thereby ensuring that the graduates will meet the prescribed output standards and are qualified to participate in the national exam for certificates of medical practice. The reports at the conference were meticulously prepared, thus comprehensively illustrating the current process of building, adjusting and implementing the military medical training program of general practitioners according to the 01/2021 Circular/TT-BQP dated January 4^th, 2021 of the Ministry of National Defense. This has emphasized the analysis and close evaluation of the current situation, the difficulties, and the goals achieved through this process, not to mention the proposal of practical feasible solutions for improvement of the quality of training programs.

Lieutenant General, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Kien emphasized the necessity of adjusting and developing the training program at VMMU to ensure its feasibility and quality according to the reports. The adjustment process is carried out based on the agreed progression and orders to ensure the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the training program. The results have shown that the adjusted training program was more effective than its early counterparts, with comprehensive adjustment of training plans, provision of learning materials, improvement of teaching quality, and enhancement of study support schemes as well as learner feedback mechanisms. These improvements have brought higher satisfaction to the students, as shown by the superior “satisfied” and “very satisfied” ratings compared to previous training programs.

In addition to the achieved results, the reports have also pointed out a number of remaining problems in the process of implementing the integrated training program of military medical doctor. Specifically, the unequal matching of the contents and duration of some subjects, the inconsistent organization of the exams and mid-term tests of all the subjects and modules, and the poor quality of the questions. Moreover, the number of lecturers is still small, with many lecturers being not really enthusiastic and afraid to change their thinking and apply positive teaching methods. Other things to consider are the inactive learning attitude of the students, and the failure of medical facilities and materials in fully meeting the needs of innovating integrated medical training.

The conference

To effectively initiate the integrated military medical training program, in the coming time, Lieutenant General, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Kien requested that all the agencies and units coordinate regularly in collecting data and evaluating the effectiveness of the integrated training program, thereby proposing the adjustments and development appropriately and accordingly. Furthermore, the training classes will be organized to train staff and lecturers on professional skills, with practical content suitable for each subject. Additionally, a plan to compile textbooks and teaching materials will also be developed, thereby ensuring sufficient textbooks and diverse reference materials for subjects and modules in the integrated military medical training program. Appropriate forms of testing and assessment are to be researched and proposed to ensure achievement of output standards for subjects, modules and training programs. At the same time, active student-centered teaching methods will be thoroughly applied and carefully reviewed, with the purpose of ensuring prompt provision of the content and lectures before each class session. Finally, the form of examinations, tests, and assessments are to be guaranteed in terms of their consistency with program contents and subject outcome standards.

Author: Nguyen Hai, Translator: Nguyen Tuan Anh