Impressions of the "Match Day" festival and the competition of the "elite" resident doctors

New resident physician Vu Ngoc Duy - valedictorian of the residency exam of Hanoi Medical University chose obstetrics and gynecology as his major.

Fierce competition among new medical residents

From 1,009 applications from 14 health training institutions nationwide, 426 students have passed the fierce competition to compete for a place to become a resident doctor in 2025.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, Rector of Hanoi Medical University, said that the 2025 residency exam will be the largest ever with 1,009 candidates from 14 health training institutions nationwide, while the enrollment target is 426/38 training majors.

This is the first batch of students from the innovative medical training program to take the residency exam. The competition to become a new resident is therefore extremely fierce.

Before 2016, candidates for the residency exam registered their major preferences before taking the exam. However, since 2016, Hanoi Medical University has advocated for reforming the training program and expanding the enrollment quota for residents, with candidates choosing their majors based on the results of the residency exam. This admission method has opened up many opportunities for residents to choose their majors.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, President of Hanoi Medical University, advised new resident doctors to prepare their determination and courage to enter 3 years of rigorous but also extremely valuable training to mature and assert themselves.

Therefore, this year's Match Day (also known as the day to choose a major for residency training on September 9 every year) brought many emotions and went "viral" on social networks because each major has a limited quota and will "close" when it is full. Therefore, even with high scores, students are not sure to choose the right major because the priority belongs to those with higher scores.

This year, obstetrics and gynecology and plastic surgery are two highly attractive majors, with their quotas filled up right from the first selections. In the top 10 candidates with the highest scores, obstetrics and gynecology still holds the top position with 7/10 candidates choosing it; followed by plastic surgery with 2 choices and diagnostic imaging, cardiology...

New resident physician Dang Thi Ngoc Linh, top 5 highest scorer, chose Cardiology major at Hanoi Medical University.

In 2025, the residency training program will enroll 426 students, of which 402 will be for Hanoi Medical University and the remaining will belong to affiliated units such as Thanh Hoa Branch, Lao Cai Department of Health and Thai Nguyen Central Hospital.

In Vietnam, there are 13 training schools, of which Hanoi Medical University is the oldest, opened in 1974 with more than 5,000 resident doctors.

What standards do medical students need to meet to become a resident physician?

The residency exam is usually held in August every year. To participate in residency training, students who graduate from medical, traditional medicine, and dentistry majors at health training schools are allowed to take the entrance exam immediately after graduation.

The exam is rigorous right from the qualifying round: Candidates must graduate with a good degree or above, have never been disciplined beyond warning, be under 27 years old and be in good health. In addition, candidates must prepare a huge amount of knowledge, synthesized from many subjects throughout 6 years of medical study.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Kim Bao Giang, Vice Principal of Hanoi Medical University, in 2025, the difficulty of the exam will be assessed as "the most difficult of the difficult exams" and will only be taken once in a lifetime.

In 2025, the exam will be organized objectively, assessing the ability closely thanks to the use of a bank of more than 2,000 completely new questions. The exam is completely new, methodical and covers knowledge from 14 specialized fields, instead of just 8 subjects as before, requiring synthetic thinking and problem-solving ability close to professional practice.

Upon admission, university graduates will become medical residents with a full-time training period of 3 years at school and practice facilities. This 3-year training period is not easy.

In 2025, the residency training program will enroll 426 students, of which 402 will be for Hanoi Medical University.

According to Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, after graduating, resident doctors with a solid professional foundation, high self-control and responsibility, and a spirit of always striving to overcome difficulties to study and advance have achieved many successes in their careers.

A resident doctor can be 6-10 years ahead of his classmates in terms of knowledge and clinical experience. Many former residents have been leaders and leading experts of the Ministry of Health , central and provincial hospitals and training institutions or hold important positions in the development of the Vietnamese health sector, contributing to the imprint of Vietnamese medicine on the world medical map.

THIEN LAM-HAI NGO

Source: https://nhandan.vn/an-tuong-ngay-hoi-match-day-va-cuoc-canh-tranh-cua-cac-tinh-hoa-bac-si-noi-tru-post907445.html