After Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) terminated the Vietnam - Germany Medical Program after 12 years of implementation, on the afternoon of October 22, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine organized a meeting with students and parents to find a solution.

Associate Professor Nguyen Dang Thoai, Vice Principal in charge of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, said that for the 2025 class, when switching to the regular medical doctor training program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, from October 20, 2025, students will be able to study the entire program without missing any subjects. The tuition fees that students have paid under the Vietnamese - German Medical program (115 million VND/semester) will be calculated for refund.

Nguyen Dang Thoai
Associate Professor Nguyen Dang Thoai, Vice Principal in charge of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine.

The school is focusing on all solutions for students of the 2023 and 2024 courses. Based on the roadmap to end cooperation between the two sides from July 2024, the school continues to discuss with partners so that these courses can study according to the previous program, to ensure the rights of students and their families.

Mr. Thoai said the school proposed three solutions.

First, continue negotiations with Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to develop a new training program, suitable for the transition, to address students of the 2023 and 2024 classes.

Second, through partners, negotiate with the German National Institute for Medical Examinations (IMPP) to provide exam papers outside of Germany in the period 2027-2030, when these two courses end.

The third direction is to organize for Vietnamese-German medical students of the 2023 and 2024 classes to take the M2 exam in Germany. However, this requires students to have a C1 level German language certificate, which requires a lot of effort from the learners. Thus, students can not only take the exam at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz but can also take the exam at any university in Germany. When implementing this option, there will be two possibilities: students go to Germany to take the M2 exam and are admitted according to the exam sessions or if they do not pass the M2 in Germany, they will return to Vietnam.

Upon returning to Vietnam, if students are still within 12 years of enrollment (including 6 regular years and a maximum of 6 extended years), they can complete the program and graduate according to the Vietnamese program.

Student
Vietnamese-German medical students present at the dialogue.

Professor Urban, representative of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, said that in case students have to go to Germany to take the M2 exam, the possibility of students achieving the C1 German certificate is quite high, because during the process of studying the Vietnamese-German Medical program, they have been trained in the language according to international standards.

However, he is inclined to the option of having a new program and collaborating with Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to solve the problem for students in a new way. Thus, students will register at both Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Students of the 2023 and 2024 classes can rest assured to complete the Vietnamese-German Medical program.

Students who want to complete the program

At the dialogue session, students of the 2023 and 2024 courses of the Vietnamese-German Medical Program expressed their desire to complete the program and pursue the path they have chosen. Representatives of the two student courses said that when choosing the Vietnamese-German Medical Program, they were all determined to take this path seriously. Many students passed the M1 exam and obtained the TestDaF 4 foreign language certificate in their second year despite being under a lot of academic pressure. Students hope that Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the IMPP Testing Institute will create conditions for them to continue studying and complete the program.

“Studying in Mainz, graduating according to German standards and later dedicating ourselves to medicine - that is not only our dream but also the hope and trust of our families,” the student representative shared.

Students also pledge that they have been, are and will always be ready to meet all requirements set forth by the program, both professionally and in terms of discipline.

Ms. Phan Thi Diep, representative of parents of students of class 2023, said that the students' learning process was going according to procedure, but when the program was canceled, the students were the ones most affected, because they gave up many other opportunities to study Vietnamese-German Medicine.

"We sincerely hope that the school and leaders will continue to negotiate with partners so that students can complete the program," Ms. Diep said.

Associate Professor Nguyen Dang Thoai said the school was very sorry to have to stop the Vietnamese-German Medicine program, because this was the passion of the school's leaders for many years, through different periods.

"From 2013 to now, there have been 99 doctors graduating in Germany, of which 8 returned to Vietnam. These are well-trained, high-quality doctors," said Mr. Thoai.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dh-y-khoa-pham-ngoc-thach-tinh-dua-sinh-vien-hoc-do-dang-sang-duc-thi-quoc-gia-2455344.html