Students and parents express concern over the suspension of the Vietnamese-German Medicine program.

At the working session on the afternoon of October 22, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Thoai, Vice Principal in charge of leadership, management and operation of the school, said that the suspension of the Vietnamese-German Medical Program from the 2024 school year was entirely due to objective factors from the German partner.

Photo caption — Representatives of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine met with students and parents studying the Vietnamese - German Medical program on the afternoon of October 22.

According to Mr. Thoai, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Universitätsmedizin Mainz have decided to terminate their cooperation from June 2024 because the IMPP Institute (German National Institute for Medical and Pharmaceutical Examinations) will stop providing the M2 national exam outside of Germany after 2027. This is a systematic change, not due to violations or disagreements between the two schools. The school received an official letter about this on October 8.

In response to the situation, the school has implemented measures to deal with it. For the 2025 enrollment, all students will be transferred to the school's regular medical doctor training program, starting from October 20, and tuition fees will be refunded.

For students in the 2023 and 2024 classes, the school is looking for solutions to ensure learning rights.

Accordingly, the school proposed 3 options: First, continue to negotiate with the German side to build a new training program, in line with Germany's policy changes; second, work directly with the IMPP Institute to propose continuing to allow the provision of M2 exam questions outside of Germany after 2027. The third solution, if the above two solutions are not feasible, the school will organize for students to take the M2 exam in Germany, with the condition of achieving a C1 level German language certificate. The exam is held twice a year, students can retake the exam if they do not pass. In case students do not pass the M2 exam in Germany (within 12 years from the date of admission), students can return to Vietnam to complete the medical training program in the country.

Faced with the three solutions proposed by Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, many parents and students of the Vietnamese-German Medical Program expressed concern about the possibility of implementation.

Student representative of class Y2023, Thai Chanh Dat, said that the student body wishes to continue the study program as originally planned. He affirmed that the students have made every effort in their studies, demonstrated by the good results in the M1 transition exam and the fact that many students achieved the TestDaF 4 German certificate in their second year to prepare for the clinical study phase in Germany.

In addition, the students expressed their wish that the school and Professor Reinhard Urban would support in sending the petition to the German partner, and at the same time create conditions for them to continue their chosen study path.

In addition, the group of parents also sent a letter expressing their gratitude for the program and their belief in German medical education . The parents said they were proud of their children's academic results, but expressed concern about the changes in the program's roadmap and especially the requirement for students to achieve a C1 German certificate to go to Germany to take the M2 exam.

According to parents, this is a big challenge, causing many costs, pressures and risks compared to the original training plan; at the same time, they hope the school and German partners will consider and create conditions for students to complete the committed program.

The Vietnam-Germany Medical Program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine was launched in 2013, a joint program to train medical doctors with Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany). To date, the program has had 99 doctors graduate in Germany, most of whom stayed to work, 8 doctors returned to work in Vietnam. The program has a tuition fee of more than 200 million VND per year, a training period of 6 years and 3 months, including 5 years of study in Vietnam and 1 year and 3 months of practice at hospitals in Germany. Currently, there are 50 students from class 2023, 15 students from class 2024 and 14 students from class 2025 studying.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/sinh-vien-va-phu-huynh-bay-to-lo-lang-truoc-viec-dung-chuong-trinh-y-viet-duc-20251022230347908.htm