Residency is not the "golden key" to getting a job easily

(Dan Tri) - According to the Principal of Hanoi Medical University, residency is an exam with a very high competition rate. This is a good opportunity but not the only one to become a good doctor.

The best opportunity but not the only one

Residency program of a university in Hanoi (Photo: Document).

According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Tu, Principal of Hanoi Medical University, resident doctors are a small part of the health system but play a very important role. This is a group of specialized doctors who are trained systematically and continuously, after graduating from 6 years of university, with the highest quality control, both input and output.

During the 3-year training period, the learning requirements for residents are also the highest, from theory to practice, working with patients in the hospital and closely following hospital activities.

“Residency is hard and harsh, but it is the best (but not the only) opportunity to become a good doctor. The reason I say harsh is because the hospital environment and teachers are very strict,” Professor Tu shared.

In the past 10 years, in 2025, the competition rate for residency has been the highest since the expansion of residency quotas for more popularization. According to Professor Tu, the increase in quotas to expand the number of residents taking the residency exam is to follow the world trend and to allow more people to benefit from a team of good doctors.

If this team works in the provinces, it will certainly improve the quality of medical examination and treatment and make positive changes to local healthcare. People will benefit and not have to go to higher levels.

For example, he said, nearly 20 years ago, resident physician Le Van Cuong, after graduating from cardiology residency, applied to work at Thanh Hoa Provincial Hospital.

At that time, Dr. Cuong was the only resident physician working in Thanh Hoa. With his knowledge, experience and great determination, Dr. Cuong and his colleagues built a very developed cardiovascular center at Thanh Hoa General Hospital. This center has intervened and treated most of the cases requiring high technology in the locality, so very few patients have to be transferred to other hospitals.

This talented young doctor was later appointed Deputy Director of the Provincial General Hospital and is currently Deputy Director of Thanh Hoa Department of Health.

According to the Principal of Hanoi Medical University, currently expanding resident physician training is facing many difficulties.

Previously, the residency training model was elite, with only 15-20 people per course, with very high requirements, so teachers could hold hands and guide, making training more convenient.

Currently, residency training is oriented towards training specialists for various fields, with up to 400 residents per course, making training more difficult. Therefore, schools must innovate training from input assessment, curriculum, evaluation, assessment... to ensure the desired output quality.

In addition, in the past, resident doctors received scholarships/salaries, but now there are no scholarships or salaries, so it is more difficult.

Lecturers and students of the health sector in a practical session (Photo: Thuy Huyen).

Resident doctors still have difficulty finding jobs

Sharing about the way resident doctors choose their major, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu, Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital, said that there is still a situation where some resident doctors, because they regret the effort they put in, choose a major they are not really passionate about, which is the disadvantage of the current way of choosing.

The second disadvantage is the crowd-following situation.

“When you get high scores, you will always think about the "hot" majors of previous years. Many times you do not research carefully, but because you are a top student, there is no reason not to choose the majors that last year had their quotas filled the earliest on the day of choosing the major.

As a result, many students are not really passionate, so even though they are valedictorians, they do not excel in the final exam, and even have difficulty finding jobs at prestigious medical facilities," said Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu.

Therefore, according to Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu, doctors need to thoroughly research the field they choose because it will be associated with and change their whole life. They should not follow the crowd and should not "try to force it".

Boarding is a thorny path to glory, but it is not the only path. Listen to your heart to have a future of your own choice.

On the school side, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu proposed a solution to overcome these two shortcomings: each student will have 3 wishes before the exam and on the day of choosing a major, they will only "compete" with those who have the same wishes as them.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/bac-si-noi-tru-khong-phai-chia-khoa-vang-de-de-xin-viec-20250912160102203.htm