Admission to medical school using Literature subject causes mixed reactions

Many opinions support adding Literature to the admission exam because they believe that doctors need to know how to express and share in addition to their expertise, but doctors say this is absurd.

Among the 27 universities training in Medicine nationwide, four schools use a combination of Literature subjects for admission, in addition to three other combinations, choosing from Math, Chemistry, Biology, Foreign Languages, and Natural Sciences .

Specifically, Van Lang University for the first time used the D12 combination (Literature, Chemistry, English) to consider admission to the Medical major based on both graduation exam scores and academic records. Meanwhile, Duy Tan University in Da Nang used the A16 combination (Math, Natural Sciences, Literature); Vo Truong Toan University in Hau Giang and Tan Tao University in Long An both used the B03 combination (Math, Literature, Biology), based only on graduation scores.

Dr. Vo Thanh Hai, Permanent Vice President of Duy Tan University, said that the school will include Literature in the admissions group for the Medical major from 2022, after consulting with employers and training experience.

According to Mr. Hai, the hospital leaders surveyed all hope 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 go to the hospital for medical examination and 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 has increasingly high demands on doctors, in addition to expertise, they 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, and no more than four groups can be used to consider admissions for 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 cadres speak fluently and express their writing clearly and grammatically.

The former leader of a large medical university in Ho Chi Minh City believes 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, President of the Vietnam Oriental Medicine Association and former Director of the Academy of Traditional Medicine, agreed that some medical schools include Literature in their admissions. He said that the ability to advise, explain, and communicate of some medical staff is 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 used to properly assess the candidate's ability and see if they are suitable to pursue a career in medicine.

According to Mr. Canh, when including Literature in the admission combination, schools should keep Biology and the remaining subject should be Chemistry or Mathematics. A better way is to use Literature score as a secondary criterion, meaning that if two candidates have the same B00 combination score, the one with the 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 the most important subject for medical students because specialized books and professional seminars mostly use this language.

In terms of enrollment benefits, both experts believe that schools choosing their own combinations when recruiting for the medical major is more strategic than training needs. If they only recruit using the traditional combinations B00, A00, schools will have to compete strongly with famous training institutions. The entrance threshold for the medical major according to the combination of three subjects is usually from 22 graduation exam points or 24 points from the academic transcript or higher. When high-scoring candidates have entered major medical schools, if they still consider using the combination A00, B00, 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

Doctor 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 Biology knowledge.

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 they want to diversify the admission combinations, schools can create new combinations, such as Biology - Physics - Chemistry, Biology - Chemistry - English. These combinations are more suitable to assess the ability of candidates in the medical field.

According to Mr. Canh, schools need to harmonize interests by leaving a very small percentage of quotas based on the combination of subjects including Literature in the first years. If schools reserve large quotas, it can cause confusion, affect candidates and cause bad public opinion.

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, was that it was difficult for students to get high scores in Literature when they had studied mainly natural sciences.

Le Nguyen - Duong Tam

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/xet-tuyen-nganh-y-bang-mon-van-gay-phan-ung-trai-chieu-4608416.html