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Why did the Vietnamese-German medical program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine end?

The Vietnamese-German medical training program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine has unexpectedly ended from the 2025-2026 school year, after more than 10 years of implementation.

Báo Tuổi TrẻBáo Tuổi Trẻ22/10/2025

Chương trình y Việt - Đức của Trường đại học Y khoa Phạm Ngọc Thạch chấm dứt, vì sao?- Ảnh 1.

New doctors of the first class of the Vietnam - Germany medical program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine on their graduation day in Germany in 2020 - Photo courtesy

This afternoon, October 22, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (HCMC) will hold a dialogue with parents and students of the Vietnamese-German medical program, classes 2023 and 2024, to officially inform about the termination of this training program.

Due to changes in regulations in Germany's health reform program

According to the leaders of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, after more than 10 years of implementation, by 2025, the Vietnamese-German medical program has trained a total of 99 doctors through 6 courses. However, from this school year, the program must end.

The reason is that from the beginning of 2023, the IMPP Institute (Institut für Medizinische und Pharmazeutische Prüfungsfragen) - the exclusive agency that organizes the German national medical exam - announced that it would stop providing M1 and M2 exams to foreign students from December 31, 2027, due to changes in regulations in Germany's medical reform program.

This means that Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz no longer has the legal basis to organize national exams for Vietnamese students after that time.

In June 2024, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz sent an official letter terminating the training cooperation according to Article 8 of the 2022-2027 agreement, effective from the 2025-2026 academic year.

Faced with the above developments, on October 15, the school held a joint meeting between the board of directors, the dean of the Vietnamese-German medical faculty, and relevant departments and reached an agreement: to stop training from the 2025 course, and find every way to negotiate for the 2023 and 2024 courses to be completed in full.

"On October 17, the school held a meeting to directly dialogue with parents and students of the 2025 class to announce the policy: all students admitted to this class will be transferred to the school's regular medical program, starting from October 20, along with the school's school year schedule, to ensure no interruption in learning," said a school representative.

Only maintain support for courses 2022-2024 until graduation

With the desire to maintain the operation of the above training program, the school has actively influenced and exchanged with German partners through many contact channels and reported this situation to the city leaders.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee introduced and supported the school to connect with relevant partners, requesting a review of IMPP's decision to stop providing M2 exam papers after 2027, emphasizing the national importance and prestige of the Vietnam - Germany cooperation program in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Science and Health of Rheinland-Pfalz state responded, sending a dispatch to the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin, expressing its concern and acknowledging the request for support.

"However, on September 26, the Supervisory Board of the Mainz Medical Center met and decided not to sign a new agreement with Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, only maintaining support for the 2022-2024 courses until graduation (expected in 2030) if IMPP still allows the M2 exam to be held.

With this decision, the 2025 class (which just enrolled in September 2025) cannot be accepted into the joint program; and the 2023-2024 classes do not have a firm commitment for the M2 exam in 2028-2029.

Based on the agreement for the 2022-2027 period between Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, we will make efforts to negotiate with our German partner to ensure the completion of the 2023 and 2024 courses," the school representative added.

Training Vietnamese doctors according to German output standards

The Vietnamese-German Faculty of Medicine (VGFM) was established in 2013, on the basis of a cooperation agreement between Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany).

The program was initiated under the auspices of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Government (Germany) and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, with the support of the German Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany. In 2022, the two schools continued to sign a cooperation agreement for the period 2022-2027.

The program's goal is to train Vietnamese doctors according to German output standards, capable of international integration, working in both health systems, contributing to improving the quality of health human resources in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam.

This is the first dual-degree medical training cooperation program between Vietnam and Germany, recognized by Vietnam and Germany for its structure and content equivalent to the medical program in Germany.

The program has a training period of 6 years, including: 5 years of study in Vietnam, taught in English and German according to German medical curriculum, by Vietnamese and German lecturers; 1 year of clinical internship in Germany (Praktisches Jahr - PJ), at university hospitals in the Mainz and Braunschweig systems.

Students take two German national exams: M1 (Physikum): at the end of the second year, organized and graded by the National Institute for Medical Examinations (IMPP); M2 (Zweiter Abschnitt): at the end of the fifth year, also provided with exam questions and supervised by IMPP.

M2 results are recognized as equivalent in Germany, allowing graduates to register to practice or continue studying for a specialist medical program in Germany.

As of 2025, the program has trained a total of 99 doctors through 6 courses. More than 90% of graduates are working or studying in Germany, 8 doctors have returned to Vietnam and are working or continuing their postgraduate studies at central hospitals and in Ho Chi Minh City.

The program is positively evaluated by the JGU and IMPP academic accreditation teams, ensuring training standards equivalent to Europe, with an M1 pass rate of over 90% and M2 of about 50%.

The program has contributed to improving the capacity of Vietnamese teaching staff through: updating competency-based clinical teaching methods (CBME) and European standard assessment.

TRAN HUYNH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chuong-trinh-y-viet-duc-cua-truong-dai-hoc-y-khoa-pham-ngoc-thach-cham-dut-vi-sao-20251022091243501.htm


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