There will be a national exam to grant medical and pharmaceutical practice certificates.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Loi, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training of the Ministry of Health, said that the Ministry of Health is proposing to the Government and the National Assembly to amend the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment.

Accordingly, it is necessary to have a national exam to issue a certificate to practice medical examination and treatment.

According to current law, after graduating from a six-year training program, a medical degree holder must practice for 18 months at a hospital to be eligible to apply for a practice certificate. The practice certificate is issued once, but must ensure that the medical staff is obliged to participate in continuous training for at least 48 hours in two consecutive years to meet the professional and technical requirements of the position. Otherwise, the certificate holder will not be allowed to continue practicing.

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Loi, Vietnam has joined the ASEAN economic community, following the trend of international integration, Vietnam needs to have activities and contents according to international practices. The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment has regulations on granting practice certificates. To make the framework agreement in ASEAN feasible, the Ministry of Health has built basic competency standards, which are the basis for training institutions to determine their output standards.

“We are reviewing to propose amending and supplementing this regulation in the coming time as international practice has done, in the direction of requiring a national exam to issue a practice certificate and the certificate is valid for a certain period of time (usually five years)” - Mr. Loi said.

Mr. Loi also added that the national practice certificate exam is expected to be organized by region. The Ministry of Health will preside over the national practice certificate exam.

It is known that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs also issued Joint Circular No. 26/2015 promulgating the standards for medical officer titles for nurses, midwives, and technicians. According to this circular, from January 1, 2021, to become a nurse, midwife, or technician, applicants must have at least a college degree.

According to PLO