Policy effective from December 2025: Medical students should take note

These are new regulations on training and fostering qualifications for the professional title of doctor, officially implemented from December 2025 that medical students need to pay attention to.

This is the content of Circular No. 41 regulating codes and standards for professional titles of doctors, issued by the Ministry of Health on November 3, effective from December 18, 2025, replacing the regulations in the joint circular of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2015. This information is directly related to medical students.

Accordingly, the circular, effective from December, stipulates that the group of doctor titles includes senior doctor (grade I), main doctor (grade II) and doctor (grade III).

From December 18, 2025, there will be many changes in the training standards of the medical title group.

PHOTO: TT

The standards for training levels of each position have changed compared to the old regulations. Specifically, senior doctors (grade I), code V.08.01.01, require graduation from a level II specialist doctor or a doctorate in the medical field (except for preventive medicine and epidemiology); doctor of dentistry. While the old regulations only "except for preventive medicine" and do not include "doctor of dentistry".

While the 2015 circular stipulates that senior doctors must have a certificate of training for senior doctors (grade I), this draft requires "having a certificate of training according to the standards of the professional title of doctor or having a license (certificate) to practice medical examination and treatment".

The draft also removes the regulation that senior doctors must have foreign language proficiency level 4 (B2) or higher according to the 6-level foreign language proficiency framework for use by ViN.

Chief physician (grade II), code: V.08.01.02, requires a degree of first-level specialist or master's degree in medicine (except for preventive medicine and epidemiology); master's degree in dentistry. The old regulation only "except for preventive medicine" and does not include "master's degree in dentistry".

This Circular also removes the requirement of having a primary doctor training certificate (grade II), replacing it with "having a training certificate according to the professional title standards of a doctor or having a license (certificate) to practice medical examination and treatment", and at the same time removes the requirement of having a foreign language proficiency level 3 (B1) or higher for primary doctors.

For doctors (grade III), code V.08.01.03, it is necessary to graduate from a medical group (except for preventive medicine); a maxillofacial doctor (not available in the old regulations).

If previously, doctors (grade III) did not require a doctor training certificate, this circular requires a training certificate according to the professional title standards of doctors, or a license (certificate) to practice medical examination and treatment. Similarly, the Ministry of Health also removed the regulation requiring a foreign language level 2 (A2) or higher for the title of doctor (grade III).

In addition, for the title of doctor (grade III), the circular mentions the case of a medical bachelor's degree from a foreign educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training as a university degree must be granted a license (certificate) to practice medicine or be recognized as having a level equivalent to a doctor. This provision is not included in the 2015 circular.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chinh-sach-co-hieu-luc-tu-thang-12-2025-sinh-vien-nganh-y-can-luu-y-185251204221308692.htm