Students of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine talk about challenges

'On the path to pursuing my dream, I have experienced a few difficulties and challenges. There were times when everything around me seemed to be happening continuously... After each difficulty, I learned a lesson,' said Le Thanh Duoc, a new student at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City.

Sinh viên Trường ĐH Y khoa Phạm Ngọc Thạch nói về những thử thách - Ảnh 1. — *Le Thanh Duoc (left), returned to his old school to share his learning experiences with his juniors.*

Le Thanh Duoc (18 years old) is the valedictorian of block B00 at Le Trong Tan High School, Tan Phu District (HCMC) in the recent high school graduation exam with 26 points. He is a first-year medical student at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine . In addition, Duoc's outstanding achievements include the bronze medal at the 2019 Ho Chi Minh City April 30 Olympics; second prize in the 2021 city-level biology calculator math competition; third prize in the 2023 city-level excellent student competition...

Returning to his old "home" - Le Trong Tan High School on October 9 in the program "Dialogue with the valedictorian" , Le Thanh Duoc shared with his juniors many interesting learning experiences.

A student from Le Trong Tan High School asked: "Can you share with me which book helps me prepare well for the exam?"

Le Thanh Duoc replied: "I will not say any book will help you do well on the exam. But there are 2 methods. First, you can go online to find which book is most popular. Second, this is considered a general formula, which is self-study. No matter which book you buy, you have to spend time to review and study by yourself, you come up with a reasonable schedule for yourself. For example, friend A and friend B buy the same book but the two people have different scores, the core factor here lies in you. You are the one who decides whether the value of that book is 9+ or 8+ points".

Sinh viên Trường ĐH Y khoa Phạm Ngọc Thạch nói về những thử thách - Ảnh 2.

Sinh viên Trường ĐH Y khoa Phạm Ngọc Thạch nói về những thử thách - Ảnh 3. — *Students of Le Trong Tan High School excitedly asked questions*

Another student raised the question: "How to arrange a reasonable timetable?". Le Thanh Duoc told his personal story: "When starting grade 12, a problem arose, which was that I not only had to study 3 subjects: math, chemistry, biology to enter university, but also had to study other subjects. At first, I struggled to balance and manage my time. After the first week, I made a plan. For subjects that I took the high school graduation exam but did not use the score to consider university admission, such as geography,history , civics, literature, physics, when in class, I would focus completely on that lesson, so that when I got home, I would review this subject less. Therefore, I would have more time for the 3 main subjects. However, because my university mostly took the high school graduation exam score, I focused mainly on the 3 subjects: math, chemistry, biology. Some schools combined the score to assess ability, or the transcript, so the above learning method was not completely optimal".

In response to a student's question about how to review lessons effectively and the challenges and difficulties, a male medical student at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine shared: "No matter how busy you are, spend at least one hour a day reviewing old lessons. Don't just learn new things, but combine studying and reviewing."

"On the path to pursuing this dream, I also had to go through some difficulties. There were times when everything around me seemed to keep happening, leaving me no time to rest. In the end, I overcame it. I realized a lesson that every journey will have difficulties, we must always try to stay steadfast with our dreams, and everything will be fine," the valedictorian of block B00 in 2023 at Le Trong Tan High School confided.

Sinh viên Trường ĐH Y khoa Phạm Ngọc Thạch nói về những thử thách - Ảnh 4. — *Le Thanh Duoc (left cover) and excellent students from universities answer students' questions.*

Mental health care

Asking a question to Duoc - a student at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, a student expressed his concern: "Currently, I see a lot of information about students being stressed and depressed due to too much studying. What is the way you arrange between studying and playing, because taking care of mental health is very important for students?".

Le Thanh Duoc said: "First of all, it is very important for everyone to have a hobby. Knowing what you really like and are pursuing seems like you have already gone 25% of the way. Second, you should not stay up late to study, instead of staying up late, go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. Many students in grade 12 still play games, you should not think that if you lose this game, you can win back the next game. This year is the year that determines your future. And especially, no matter how hard you study, students should remember to eat breakfast and get enough sleep, balance their health, and balance their time. These things are very important in managing mental health."