Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine speaks out about the case of a 24-year-old candidate passing the doctoral exam.

Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine has just made an official response regarding the news that a 24-year-old new medical doctor was admitted to the doctoral training program at the school, which is causing a stir on social networks.

New doctor Au Nhat Huy received a certificate of completion of the PBL (Problem-Based Learning) program under the guidance of Professor Ernest Talarico at Purdue Northwest University during his internship in the US in 2024 - Photo: TTU

According to the list of candidates admitted to the 2025 doctoral program of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (HCMC) just announced, candidate Au Nhat Huy (born in 2001) has a high ranking, attracting attention and discussion from the online community.

Graduated with honors as a doctor, co-author of 6 scientific articles

With a score of 88.80, the second highest in the list of 31 candidates, only 0.3 points behind the leader, the young doctor Au Nhat Huy is one of 25 candidates on the list of candidates recognized for admission to the university's 2025 postgraduate program.

Huy is the youngest person on the list of candidates admitted to the doctoral training program in internal medicine at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in 2025.

Previously, new doctor Au Nhat Huy was awarded the TTU President's Honor Award 2025 at the 2025 graduation ceremony of Tan Tao University ( Long An ). This is an honorary award from the President of the University Council, presented to new graduates and new doctors with outstanding achievements as reviewed by the award council.

According to the school, the new doctor Au Nhat Huy stands out with his impressive academic achievements, achieving an excellent GPA of 3.8/4.0 and TOEIC of 940/990. He is the co-author of 6 scientific articles, has presented at 3 international conferences and won first prize at the school's scientific conference.

Huy received the ITA for the Future scholarship in 2021, did medical internship in Indiana, USA (2024), and is also the project manager of VMcomics at Dr. Plus Club.

Doubts about admission results and scientific integrity

However, in recent days, the online community has been continuously discussing the results of this new doctor’s entrance exam. Many people have questioned whether the results of this doctoral candidate’s entrance exam are objective.

Because Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor of Medicine Tran Thi Khanh Tuong - Head of the Faculty of Medicine, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine - is Au Nhat Huy's mother.

Regarding the information that Huy is a co-author of 6 scientific articles, many people are doubting the scientific integrity of this co-author.

Some people pointed out the fact that Huy's name appeared in at least 9 articles, including 3 international articles and 6 articles in domestic magazines. In these 9 articles, Au Nhat Huy was a co-author. Notably, Huy shared his name with his mother in 7 out of 9 articles.

All 9 articles were published within 8 months, from November 2024 to July 2025. On average, Huy is listed in more than one article per month. In May 2025, April 2025 and November 2024, Huy has two articles each month.

"For medical students, studying is extremely hard, it is very difficult to achieve excellent results. Therefore, it is very rare for medical students to participate in scientific research. With the speed at which Huy's article was published, it is very difficult to explain," a doctor wondered.

The school confirmed that Au Nhat Huy is qualified to pass the doctoral exam.

On the afternoon of October 6, speaking with Tuoi Tre , a representative of the leadership of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine said that the school had reviewed the entire doctoral admission process in 2025 and confirmed that candidate Au Nhat Huy was qualified for admission.

According to the school's regulations, up to now, if a staff member or lecturer has a relative participating in the admissions, he/she will not participate in any council in the exam. In this specific case, Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Internal Medicine, Tran Thi Khanh Tuong - Head of the Faculty of Medicine, Head of the Internal Medicine Department - is the mother of candidate Au Nhat Huy, so she will not participate in any stage of this year's postgraduate admissions.

"Candidate Au Nhat Huy registered and took the doctoral entrance exam, meeting the required standards. Whether or not this candidate graduated with honors as a medical doctor is the responsibility of Tan Tao University.

The school's admission procedures are completely in accordance with regulations. The scientific articles that this candidate published are not related to the admission process, and the issue of scientific integrity is another area, beyond the school's responsibility," the school representative emphasized.

At the same time, the school representative also confirmed that the announcement and regulations for postgraduate admission in 2025 have been made public on the school's website. The admission method complies with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training .

Medical Doctorate Admission Requirements

According to the 2025 postgraduate admission announcement of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, the conditions for admission to the doctoral level: have one of the following: a master's degree in medicine in the same field as the registered field or a general practitioner degree with honors or higher; or have a graduation certificate equivalent to level 7 according to the Vietnamese National Qualifications Framework in the same field or a field suitable for the registered field.

Have research experience demonstrated through: master's thesis, or scientific articles/reports published in peer-reviewed journals, or being a lecturer or researcher at a training institution or scientific and technological organization with a working period of 2 years or more.

In addition, candidates need to have a draft research outline and a full-course research plan, meet the required foreign language requirements and health conditions.

The selection process is conducted through direct evaluation of application documents, research experience, and quality of research proposals.

Regarding candidate Au Nhat Huy, the school representative said: "The candidate completed the research proposal according to the instructions and defended the proposal according to regulations, and was evaluated by the council with the announced results."

The school's regular doctoral training program lasts 3 years for those with a master's degree or equivalent, and 4 years for those without a master's degree.

TRAN HUYNH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-dai-hoc-y-khoa-pham-ngoc-thach-len-tieng-vu-thi-sinh-24-tuoi-trung-tuyen-tien-si-20251006141540408.htm