Vietnamese girl and her journey from unpaid intern to Oxford University

"Turn sideways" because passion leads the way

In many people's minds, "working in a different field" is a risky choice, potentially risky and a waste of time when not being able to use the knowledge learned at university.

However, for today’s young generation, pursuing their passion, sometimes taking a wrong turn in their career is an opportunity to demonstrate their acumen, talent, and courage. It is this daring that has brought them many successes and personal marks on their career journey.

Tran Bich Phuong - a former student of the International Business Management (IBM) program at British University Vietnam (BUV) - is one of them.

Bich Phuong has achieved her dream of becoming a Postdoctoral Research Scholar (PostDoc) in Health Economics at Oxford University (Photo: NVCC).

At the age of 31, Bich Phuong has achieved her dream, becoming a Postdoctoral Research Scholar (PostDoc) in Health Economics, Department of Primary Health Care - Nuffield Health Sciences, Oxford University. She has an achievement of 23 research papers published in top scientific journals.

Starting out as an economics student with development opportunities at many large agencies and enterprises such as the US Embassy in Hanoi , KPMG..., but Phuong was guided by passion to switch to the public health sector.

Talking about the reason that prompted Phuong to make this decision, she shared: "Health Economics, which studies how resources are allocated and invested to improve health outcomes, is still a relatively new field in Vietnam.

This field is highly quantitative, to build computational models and evaluate costs, benefits, efficiency and equity in health care. This is absolutely not my forte, but that is why I want to conquer it."

Starting out as an economics student, Phuong switched to public health because of her passion (Photo courtesy of NVCC).

From an unpaid intern at an NGO to a postdoctoral research scholar at Oxford University, Phuong is proud to have finally conquered the challenge she set for herself that day.

There was a time when I wanted to pack up and go home.

To pursue her dream of studying for a Master's degree abroad while her Bachelor's degree was not closely related to Public Health, Phuong spent about 2 years working at the Center for Health Science Research, University of Public Health to gain experience.

During the past 2 years, she failed many times when applying for scholarships, but with her strong will, success came to Phuong initially with a full scholarship at Karolinska Institute, Sweden - one of the top 10 medical universities in the world.

After graduating with a Master's degree, facing an expiring visa and no scholarship, Phuong accepted an unpaid internship at the faculty and worked part-time at a restaurant to make ends meet.

There were times when Phuong felt discouraged and thought she would pack up and return to Vietnam early because she couldn't find a job. Some people even told her: "Why study so much, you'll just end up working in a restaurant."

Bich Phuong received many attractive invitations in the fields of academics and research (Photo: NVCC).

However, the difficulties and gossips could not stop Phuong. After a year and a half working as a research assistant at the department with a research foundation from her time in Vietnam, with 6 published scientific research papers, Bich Phuong received 2 attractive invitations.

The first was a research project management position for a research institute in Paris (France). The second was a doctoral study at the University of Antwerp (Belgium).

Her passion for academia led Phuong to Belgium with a research topic that she was very interested in, on chronic non-communicable diseases, treatment costs and intensive care models for people with multiple chronic diseases.

During the 4 years of PhD study, Phuong continuously learned, accumulated experience and mapped out her next path right from the beginning of year 4.

To diversify her experience from non-communicable diseases to infectious diseases, she applied for a postdoctoral research position at Oxford University for a vaccine project with the UK Committee on Vaccination and Immunization.

"I feel lucky to have been chosen and worked with the UK's leading health economics professors. What I love most is being able to travel to many places, experience many cultures, and learn from health systems around the world," Bich Phuong shared.

Not only simply researching or working, Phuong also contributes to meaningful projects at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/under the World Health Organization WHO) in France, or consults for the Ministry of Health in Belgium, UK and village health projects in Vietnam and Zambia.

Bich Phuong’s story is full of inspiration for the younger generation. For her, when passion is placed in the right place, with a persistent spirit, not afraid of difficulties, any path will lead to success, no matter how challenging or bumpy the journey is!

Oxford University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world, has produced many outstanding talents. It was once the home of the scientist Stephen Hawking with his pioneering contributions to the field of theoretical physics, the economist Adam Smith - the father of modern capitalism, and the great writer JRR Tolkien - author of the legendary novel series "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit".

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/co-gai-viet-va-hanh-trinh-tu-thuc-tap-sinh-khong-luong-toi-dai-hoc-oxford-20240913233941205.htm