The article was withdrawn, the doctoral candidate's admission score was lowered by Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine.

On the same day, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine reported the incident to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

As Tien Phong reported, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine recently announced information about the doctoral entrance exam with much attention when Au Nhat Huy (born in 2001) scored 88.8 points, ranked second out of 31 candidates, becoming the youngest graduate student of the doctoral program in internal medicine in 2025.

*Au Nhat Huy (right) is the youngest candidate admitted to the doctoral program at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine at the age of 24.*

Huy graduated with honors as a medical doctor from Tan Tao University ( Long An , now Tay Ninh), with a GPA of 3.8/4.0, TOEIC 940/990, co-authored 6 scientific articles, presented at 3 international conferences and won first prize at the university's scientific conference. He also received the TTU President's Honor Award 2025 and did his medical internship in Indiana (USA).

However, after the list was announced, many opinions appeared on social networks questioning the objectivity of the admission results. Some people said that Huy's publication of many articles in a short period of time was unusual, especially when the candidate's mother - Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tran Thi Khanh Tuong - is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Head of the Internal Medicine Department of the school.

According to statistics circulating online, Huy is listed in 9 scientific articles (3 international, 6 domestic), of which 7 are co-authored with his mother, published in 8 months (from November 2024 to July 2025). Many opinions say that this is an "unbelievable publication speed" for a medical student who has just graduated.

What does the school report to superiors?

Regarding the incident, on the afternoon of October 9, the leader of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine said that the school had reported to the leader of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

Accordingly, the 2025 Doctoral entrance exam of the School has a total of 31 candidates taking the Doctoral entrance exam in 4 majors, including Surgery (9 candidates), Pediatrics (4 candidates), Internal Medicine (15 candidates) and Otorhinolaryngology (3 candidates).

On September 30, the University announced the results of the 2025 Doctoral Entrance Exam. Afterwards, information appeared on social media that “there were problems in the admission process”. Specifically, the case of candidate Au Nhat Huy (born in 2001) who was admitted to the Doctorate in Medicine, along with comments and speculations about personal relationships and the transparency of the admission process.

Regarding the case of candidate Au Nhat Huy, through inspection, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine confirmed that there was a candidate whose name was on the admission list , was admitted according to the correct procedure, had valid documents at the time of admission and had an admission score according to the regulations.

Regarding the case of a relative of candidate Au Nhat Huy participating in the admission process, according to the training and admission regulations for doctoral degrees of the school, if a staff member or lecturer has a relative participating in the admission process, he/she will not participate in any council in the exam. In this case, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Khanh Tuong, mother of candidate Au Nhat Huy, did not participate in any activities in the graduate admission process this year , in accordance with the principle of eliminating conflicts of interest and ensuring the provisions of the current Regulations on admission and training for doctoral degrees.

Regarding the issue related to the scientific article that candidate Au Nhat Huy submitted for the exam, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine said that all scientific articles that the candidate submitted were published in journals in the List of Scientific Journals that are counted for points in 2025 according to Decision 26/QD-HDGSNN issued on July 11, 2025; Meeting the admission criteria in the Regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training ...

Specifically, at the time of application, the candidate submitted 8 articles, including: 05 articles published in domestic journals, which are journals with 0 - 1 points according to the State Council of Professors' classification 2025, and 03 articles published in international journals, listed in the Scopus List at the time of publication.

Based on the 8 articles the candidate submitted, the total converted score for research experience is 11 points, however the maximum score (ceiling) for the research experience section is only 10 points, and these 10 points are used by the Professional Subcommittee to calculate the total score, the candidate's average total score is 88.8 points.

*Au Nhat Huy received his diploma from Tan Tao University in August 2025. (TTU photo)*

On October 8, the School received a notice from the main author of an international article, in the list of articles submitted by candidate Au Nhat Huy to calculate the exam score "Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: Insights From Vietnam ( Chronic Obstr Pulm Dis. 2025 Jul 25;12(4):294 –303 .), with the content of the withdrawal of the published article. The converted score for the candidate's research experience with the remaining 7 articles will be 9.5 points.

Therefore, the Admissions Council agreed to reduce the average score from 88.8 points to 88.3 points, with this score not affecting the admission results of the doctoral entrance exam.

The school emphasized its commitment to strictly implementing the principle of academic integrity, and affirmed that if any individual or group violations are discovered, they will be verified and handled according to regulations.