The first Vietnamese girl won an OPEC scholarship

Among several thousand applicants from 140 countries, only 5-10 people receive OFID scholarships from the OPEC Fund for International Development and Phuong is among them.

In July 2017, Tran Bich Phuong received the OFID scholarship from the OPEC Fund for International Development for students from developing countries pursuing a master's degree. The scholarship covers full tuition, a monthly living allowance of $1,500, airfare, health insurance, books, and an initial $1,000 fee upon arrival.

Students are allowed to study at any university in the world, from the UK, the US or the European Union. Each year, OFID receives several thousand applications from 140 countries, but only awards 5-10 scholarships. In the 10 years since OFID was established, Tran Bich Phuong is the first Vietnamese to receive this competitive scholarship.

Tran Bich Phuong (25 years old), OFID scholarship of OPEC International Development Fund. Photo: NVCC.

With the above scholarship package, at the end of August, Bich Phuong will go to Stockholm (Sweden) to start a one-year master's course in Global Health at Karolinska Institute. This is the leading medical university in Europe, ranked in the top 5 in the world, comparable to medical schools such as Harvard, John Hopkins, Oxford...

The Karolinska Institute is also the board that reviews and awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine. "I will have access to and learn the most updated knowledge, the latest research and inventions, from the best professors in the field," the Vietnamese student excitedly said. Two weeks ago, Phuong finished a six-week course on international public health at the University of Oslo (Norway) on a school scholarship.

From a bachelor of Economics to a doctoral degree in Medicine, the Hanoi girl had a hard time convincing organizations, funds and schools to grant her scholarships. “They didn’t know how committed I was and what I could do with their investment. I was rejected twice but didn’t give up and now I have achieved what I dreamed of: two full scholarships, an invitation to study at a prestigious school and the opportunity to set foot in ancient and beautiful Europe,” the 25-year-old girl shared.

Bich Phuong and her friends in a community health course in Norway. Photo: NVCC.

As a student at the Foreign Language High School (Hanoi National University), Tran Bich Phuong won third prize in the national English competition in grade 11, with an IELTS score of 8.5. She was later awarded the Prince Andrew Scholarship worth 30,500 USD (nearly 700 million VND) by British University Vietnam for the entire undergraduate and preparatory course at the school.

This scholarship has only 4 places available nationwide each year, the criteria are aimed at dynamic students, with the potential to contribute to the development of the country, with the ability to be ambassadors to connect and enhance cultural exchange and learning between Vietnam and the UK... A profile with a good transcript (grade 12 final score is 8.6), innovative thinking and sincerity helped Phuong win the scholarship.

After graduating from university with a good degree, Phuong worked at many large multinational corporations such as Rolls-Royce and KPMG in auditing. However, she always wanted to do work related to development, directly helping the community. The Hanoi girl gave up a job with an income that many people dream of to do an unpaid internship at an international non-governmental organization on reproductive health.

Here, I realized that public health is very important but not focused on in Vietnam. With the desire to learn more to develop this issue and help people, Phuong applied and was accepted as a research assistant at the Center for Health Sciences Research, University of Public Health to approach and learn more about the profession.

"After finishing my master's course, I will return to work at the center. About 5-7 years later, I want to experience working in project organization at large international organizations such as WHO, World Bank or UN. With a master's degree in Public Health, combined with research experience and existing knowledge, I hope to carry out projects that have a direct impact on the community," the female student shared.

In addition, after completing her master's degree, Phuong plans to carry out her own project related to promoting awareness of disease prevention, combining art and technology in changing the health mindset of Vietnamese people./.

According to VNE