The 24-year-old candidate who was accepted into a doctoral program in medicine is not related to her mother, who is the head of the department.

In recent days, the admission of 24-year-old Au Nhat Huy to the Doctor of Medicine program at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine has caused a stir in public opinion.

In a statement to the press regarding this matter, a representative from Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine said that candidate Au Nhat Huy meets all the requirements for admission to the doctoral program at the university. The university conducts admissions according to regulations. The candidate registered and was admitted to the doctoral program as per the university's regulations.

The school representative also stated that, according to regulations, faculty members whose relatives are involved in the admissions process will not participate in any examination committee. Associate Professor, Doctor of Medicine Tran Thi Khanh Tuong, Head of the Faculty of Medicine, Head of the Internal Medicine Department - the mother of candidate Au Nhat Huy - did not participate in any stage of this year's postgraduate admissions process.

Regarding the scientific papers already published by the candidates, these are unrelated to the admissions process and fall outside the scope of the university's responsibility.

As VietNamNet previously reported, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine admitted 25 candidates to its 2025 postgraduate program, including 7 in surgery, 4 in pediatrics, 11 in internal medicine, and 3 in otolaryngology.
Notably, among these candidates is Au Nhat Huy, born on September 20, 2001 - exactly 24 years old, who was admitted to the PhD program in Internal Medicine.

Au Nhat Huy recently graduated from the Medical program, class YK7, at Tan Tao University with a GPA of 3.8/4.0 (excellent); and a TOEIC score of 940/990. He is a co-author of 6 scientific papers and has presented at 3 international scientific conferences (Southeast Asian Cardiology Conference 2024 in Singapore, Cardiology Conference in Chicago, USA in 2025, and Thoracic Conference in San Francisco, USA).

In addition, Huy won first prize at the Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Medicine; and received the ITA for the Future Fund scholarship in 2021. He completed a medical internship in Indiana, USA (2024) and was also the project leader of VMcomics - Dr. Plus Club.

On the scientific integrity group, Au Nhat Huy is the son of Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thi Khanh Tuong, Head of the Faculty of Medicine and Head of the Internal Medicine Department of the university.

Furthermore, this group also published information stating that Au Nhat Huy's name appeared in at least 9 articles, including 3 international articles and 6 articles in domestic journals. In these 9 articles, Au Nhat Huy was a co-author and his name was listed jointly with his mother in 7 out of 9 articles.

All nine papers were published within eight months, from November 2024 to July 2025. On average, Huy's name appeared in more than one paper each month. This has led to public questioning about the transparency of the university's doctoral admissions process.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thi-sinh-24-tuoi-trung-tien-si-y-khoa-khong-lien-quan-den-me-la-truong-khoa-2449681.html