Four universities have added Literature to their medical entrance exam, creating conflicting opinions among educators and practitioners.
This year, Van Lang University for the first time used the D12 combination (Literature, Chemistry, English) to recruit medical students based on both graduation exam scores and academic records.
In the graduation exam score assessment method, there are three schools using a combination with Literature, including Duy Tan University, Da Nang with combination A16 (Math, Natural Sciences, Literature); Vo Truong Toan University, Hau Giang and Tan Tao University, Long An both use combination B03 (Math, Literature, Biology).
Of the 27 universities training in Medicine nationwide, only these four schools use a combination of Literature subjects for admission, in addition to three other combinations, selected from Math, Chemistry, Biology, Foreign Languages, and Natural Sciences .
Health students of Duy Tan University. Photo: DTU
Dr. Vo Thanh Hai, Permanent Vice President of Duy Tan University, said that the school will use a combination of Literature subjects to recruit medical students from 2022, after consulting with employers and training experience.
According to Mr. Hai, the leaders of the surveyed hospitals all want to recruit doctors who are not only good at their profession but also sympathetic and understanding towards patients. This is also the need of the people when they seek medical treatment.
The school identified two important subjects for the medical profession: Mathematics and Biology. But instead of just taking the Biology score, the school used the Natural Science exam which included three subjects: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. After consideration, the council added Literature to the combination.
"People often say that Literature is the person. People who are good at Literature are often sympathetic, sharing and compassionate. I think that the combination of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Literature assesses the candidate's ability quite comprehensively," he said.
Another reason is that previously the Nursing major recruited students using three combinations of Literature subjects: A16, B03 and C02 (Literature, Chemistry, Math). Graduates were evaluated by employers as suitable, quick to adapt, and good at completing their work, according to Mr. Hai.
Dr. Nguyen Hung Vi, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Van Lang University, also agreed, saying that society demands more and more from doctors. In addition to being good at their profession, doctors need to have a good attitude, the ability to listen and share. Therefore, they need to have communication skills to create trust for patients.
"The qualities of a good Literature student are essential for this job," said Mr. Vi.
The Law on Higher Education allows schools to decide and be responsible for their own admissions. According to the Regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training , schools can choose their own subjects in the admissions group as long as each group has three exams, including Math or Literature. The exams included in the group must be related to the requirements of the training sector; no more than 4 groups are used for admissions to a sector.
Although not against the regulations, using Literature scores to select medical students has caused conflicting opinions. Many medical training experts believe that the schools have convincing reasons, while many doctors oppose it.
Students of Van Lang University in a class. Photo: VLU
In 2014, the Minister of Health responded to the proposal of some medical and pharmaceutical principals to include Literature in the admission test. The leaders of the health sector at that time believed that Literature helps medical staff speak fluently and express their writing clearly and grammatically.
The former leader of a large medical university in Ho Chi Minh City said that choosing which subjects to include in the medical entrance exam depends on the viewpoint and training orientation of each school, not necessarily the three traditional subjects of Math, Chemistry, and Biology.
"Literature is also necessary because doctors also need to communicate well," he said.
Associate Professor, Dr. Dau Xuan Canh, Chairman of the Vietnam Oriental Medicine Association and former Director of the Academy of Traditional Medicine, agreed that some schools included Literature in the medical entrance exam. He said that the consulting, explaining, and communication skills of some medical staff are still limited, causing misunderstandings and making the relationship between patients and doctors unfriendly.
"If viewed from this perspective, including Literature in the entrance exam is somewhat appropriate," Mr. Canh commented. However, the remaining two subjects in the combination must be able to properly assess the candidates' abilities, to see if they are suitable to pursue a career in Medicine.
According to Mr. Canh, when including Literature in the admission combination, schools need to keep Biology and the remaining subject should be Chemistry or Math. A better way is to use Literature score as a secondary criterion in the admission, meaning that if two candidates have the same score in combination B00, the one with a better Literature score will be given priority.
However, the former head of the Medical School in Ho Chi Minh City assessed that the combination without Biology "does not have a big impact". According to him, a foundation in biology in high school is necessary but not a core factor. In university, students will be trained from basic to advanced. This person commented that English is currently very important for medical students because most specialized books are in English and professional seminars also use this language.
In terms of enrollment benefits, the two experts share the same opinion that schools choosing their own combinations when recruiting for the medical major is more strategic in terms of enrollment than training needs. If they only recruit using traditional combinations such as B00, A00, schools will have to compete strongly with famous training institutions. The entrance threshold for the medical major is usually 22 points from the high school graduation exam and 24 points if considering academic records or higher. When candidates with high scores have entered major medical schools, if they are still considered using the A00, B00 combination, private schools will be limited in the number of candidates.
"When offering a separate combination, a single horse, schools can easily recruit more candidates," one person commented.
Students of the Faculty of Medicine, Vo Truong Toan University, do an internship at Can Tho Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, 2020. Photo: VTTU
From his practice, Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Neurology, Children's Hospital I, Ho Chi Minh City, believes that the most important qualities of a medical student are accuracy and logic, in addition to a good foundation of knowledge in Biology.
Sharing the same view, a general practitioner, a former student of Hanoi Medical University, said that Medicine is a science that requires high precision, so the first condition is to have good knowledge of natural sciences (Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology).
"Being good at Literature doesn't mean you can communicate, analyze, and explain well," he said, recognizing that communication is a soft skill that everyone in any profession must cultivate, not just in medicine.
On the other hand, Dr. Khanh believes that compassion and sharing are the results of a long-term educational process from school, family, and society, not that those who are good at literature are more compassionate.
"Doctors who were not good at literature before, how could they not love people?", Mr. Khanh said.
Therefore, former students of Hanoi Medical University believe that if schools want to diversify their admission combinations, they can create new combinations based on core subjects such as Biology - Physics - Chemistry, Biology - Chemistry - English. These combinations are more suitable for assessing candidates' abilities in the medical field.
According to Mr. Canh, schools need to harmonize interests by leaving a very small percentage of quotas for consideration of combinations with Literature in the first years of implementation. If schools reserve large quotas, it could lead to chaos, affect candidates and cause negative public opinion in society.
In fact, in the first year Duy Tan University recruited students for the Medicine program with a combination of Literature subjects, less than 10 candidates were admitted according to this combination. The reason, according to the school's leaders, is that it is difficult for candidates to achieve high scores in Literature when they have studied mainly natural sciences.
Le Nguyen - Duong Tam
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