Entering the summer days, Vinh Medical University becomes more deserted. At this time, in the school dormitory, there are only a few dozen Lao students staying here. These students do not return for the summer vacation but ask to stay to receive supplementary classes and improve their specialized knowledge.
Kimphavong’s (20 years old, 2nd year student, Bachelor of Laboratory Testing) room is located on the 4th floor of Vinh Medical University dormitory. The room is about 30 square meters wide, fully equipped with essential amenities such as bed, mattress, blanket, sheet, electric fan, private bathroom. Kimphavong smiled and said: “The room here is just like my room at home. The only difference is that I live with my friends!”
Kimphavong tells the story of his journey to medical school: “I live in Khun district, Xieng Khouang province. My father is a doctor at the district general hospital. Since I was little, I have always dreamed of being like my father to be able to take care of people's health. After finishing high school, through research, I learned that Xieng Khouang and Nghe An provinces have a full scholarship program for Lao students to study medicine at Vinh University of Medicine, so I registered and won this valuable scholarship.”
Kimphavong added: “Although I passed the entrance exam to the National University of Laos, I still chose to study abroad in Nghe An. Because when I came here, Nghe An province would cover all my food, accommodation, living expenses, and study expenses. If I studied in Vietnam, it would cost a lot. Every month, in addition to being completely exempted from living and studying expenses, I also received an additional 2 million VND for food. My family is very happy and completely assured when I come here to study.”
As for female student Philomphed Somoh (3rd year, Bachelor of Nursing) also received full scholarship support from Nghe An province when studying at Vinh Medical University. In the first days of coming to Vietnam, Somod was quite bewildered because of the cultural and language differences, so she was not really confident when communicating with friends and teachers. However, after 3 years of studying, this student felt truly in love with the land and people here.
“The more I live here, the more attached I feel. My class has 99 students, of which 6 are Lao students, the rest are Vietnamese. We Lao students receive a lot of care and help from Vietnamese friends. We can share our joys and sorrows in life with each other. During the pandemic, Lao students could not return home, Vietnamese friends supported and encouraged us, helping us ease our homesickness and feel secure in our studies,” Somod said.
Male student Yengxoualee (3rd year, majoring in Preventive Medicine) revealed: “We Laotian students are also connected by the school to receive foster parents. Weekends are the time for us to eat, stay, and gather with our new families. During the recent Lunar New Year, we were able to wrap banh chung with our foster parents. This helped us feel the warmth and togetherness. We consider Nghe An as our second home.”
Vinh Medical University currently has 364 Lao students studying in 7 majors (medicine, nursing, laboratory, preventive medicine, public health, associate medicine and pharmacy), of which 109 students are from Xieng Khouang province. Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Vice Principal of Vinh Medical University said: "In cooperation, Nghe An province has covered all expenses for Lao students in terms of food, accommodation and study. The school always focuses on taking care of their mental health, creating conditions for them to integrate and study well; connecting and strengthening the feelings of Lao students with Vietnam in general and Nghe An province in particular".
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan, Lao students all study very seriously, diligently, and strictly follow the school's regulations. In return, the school and the Nghe An health sector also pay special attention to comprehensive and in-depth training for Lao students. Lao students who come to Nghe An to study medicine all go through programs such as: Learning Vietnamese, training in professional theory, and clinical training at major hospitals in the province.
Specifically, Lao students will be trained in Vietnamese for 1 year before entering their major. This training course helps them to listen, speak well and understand specialized terminology. Student Kimphavong did not expect that he could learn the language so quickly: “When I went to Nghe An to study, I was arranged to study Vietnamese at Nghe An Pedagogical College for 1 year. During the language learning process, in addition to being trained in grammar and vocabulary, the school also arranged for me to communicate regularly with native speakers. Regular communication helped me quickly improve my listening and speaking skills in Vietnamese... After 1 year of study, I was completely confident to study Medicine at Vinh Medical University. This was unexpected because when I was studying high school in Laos, my ability to learn foreign languages was not really good.”
During the first two years of majoring, Lao students are trained in medical theory from basic to advanced. Teachers at the medical school always try to research and innovate teaching methods, prioritizing training time for Lao students. Student Yengxoualee commented: “I have compared the medical curriculum of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and found that there are not many differences. However, when studying at Vinh Medical University, our teachers teach us more thoroughly and they also give us many real-life examples. This helps us understand medical knowledge more easily and deeply.”
To help students master skills, the clinical training process according to the "Institute - School" model has been focused on by Vinh Medical University and Nghe An health sector. From the third year onwards, all Lao students have clinical internships at hospitals and medical centers. Nghe An is a locality with many large medical examination and treatment facilities, of which Nghe An General Hospital is the final hospital of the North Central region. The number of concentrated patients is large, the disease model is diverse. This is an important condition for Lao students to soon master skills, converting theoretical knowledge into practice.
Student Philomphed Somoh said: “When we go to clinical practice, we are divided into groups and practice in many hospitals. This helps us to be exposed to many different equipment, techniques, and diseases. In all the hospitals we go to study, the doctors and nurses are very attentive and give us enthusiastic instructions. Especially, when they know I am a Lao student, they give me even more detailed instructions. Before, when I started clinical practice, I was very nervous, but after a short time, I was able to confidently give injections, infusions, and take electrocardiograms, etc.”
With the training attention of Vinh Medical University, along with the efforts of Lao students, the school's output quality has been highly appreciated. Upon graduation, Lao students are fully equipped with professional knowledge to immediately start working in medical examination, treatment and patient care. Student Yengxoualee revealed: "According to my research, all of my seniors after graduating from medical school in Nghe An when returning to their hometowns were immediately admitted to prestigious hospitals at the provincial, district or military levels."
