International medical program terminated, students send letter to Germany

(Dan Tri) - Students of the Vietnam - Germany Medical Program, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine sent a letter to the partner university in Germany when the program was abruptly terminated.

On the afternoon of October 22, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine held a meeting with parents and students of the 2023-2024 course regarding the suspension of the Vietnam-Germany international medical cooperation program.

Students of the Vietnamese-German Medical Program at the dialogue (Photo: Hoai Nam).

At the meeting, Thai Chanh Dat, student representative of the Vietnamese - German Medical Program, read a letter hoping for a solution to the incident.

In his letter, Dat said that students are extremely attached to this program. The dream of studying at Mainz University (partner school of the program) has a very great meaning to the students.

They are completely serious about the path they have chosen. That has been proven through their very good results in the M1 transition exam.

Not only that, some students even achieved the TestDaF 4 foreign language certificate in their second year, despite being under great academic pressure from both the university program and the preparation for the M1 exam.

This also demonstrates the students' seriousness in preparing for the clinical phase and for future internship opportunities in Germany.

“You probably know that our families are very worried about the changes in the program. Our parents have invested a lot of time and effort in our education. Therefore, they have jointly written a very sincere letter to the University of Mainz and the IMPP Examination Institute.

Every word in the letter shows the respect and trust that parents and we have for the program," the student representative expressed.

Thai Chanh Dat, student representative of the Vietnamese-German Medical Program, read a letter expressing his wish to complete the program (Photo: Hoai Nam).

Students and parents also asked Professor Reinhard Urban, Co-Deputy Dean of the Vietnamese-German Medical Faculty in Germany, to forward their letter in German to the University of Mainz and the IMPP Examination Institute, hoping to be given the opportunity to continue and complete their chosen study path.

That is to study in Mainz, graduate according to German standards and later devote himself to medicine.

Student representatives also pledged their readiness to meet the requirements of the program, both professionally and disciplinaryly.

In addition to the students' letters, parents whose children are studying in the program also sent a letter to Mainz University, hoping that their children could continue studying in the program as they had originally planned.

Parents whose children are studying in the program send letters to partners in Germany (Photo: Hoai Nam).

Parents burst into tears, school leaders apologized

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Thoai, Vice Principal of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, said that this is a program that the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City are very interested in and is also the passion of many generations of leaders of the school.

Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine is making efforts to help students of the 2023 and 2024 classes complete the program with many proposed options.

A parent burst into tears while sharing at the meeting (Photo: Hoai Nam).

For now, the school offers three solutions:

First solution, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine continues to negotiate with the German side to find and build a new training program, to suit Germany's transformation.

This solution not only solves the problem of students studying this program but also helps open up new cooperation for this program in the future.

As a second solution, the school will continue to negotiate with the German National Institute for Medical Examinations (IMPP) to continue to allow the provision of exam papers outside of Germany after 2027, so that students of the 2023 and 2024 courses can complete their studies.

The third solution is implemented when the above two solutions fail. Accordingly, the school will organize for students of the 2023 and 2024 courses to go to Germany to take the M2 exam. If this solution is implemented, students must achieve a C1 German certificate.

Every year, this exam is held twice in Germany. If students fail the first time, they can take the exam a second time. However, students are not allowed to take this exam more than three times.

Therefore, if a student fails to pass the M2 exam in Germany and is within 12 years of admission, the student can return to Vietnam to complete the medical training program in the country.

When a parent choked up tears, they said they had registered their child for the Vietnamese-German medical program according to the school’s public admission information. Now they have to face the fact that their child’s education is unfinished, contrary to their original commitment.

In response to the parents' comments, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Dang Thoai said: "I apologize to the students and parents for the unavoidable incident."

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Thoai also hopes that students and parents will sympathize and share the incident when the German partner ends the cooperation in training the Vietnamese-German Medical program from the 2024 school year.

The reason for ending this training cooperation is that the German National Institute for Medical Examinations (IMPP - German Institute for Medical and Pharmaceutical Examinations) will stop providing the national M2 exam after 2027.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Thoai, Vice Principal of Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (Photo: Chan Nam).

The Medical Doctor training cooperation program between Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (PNTU) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU, Germany) was implemented since 2013, with the goal of providing Vietnamese students with the opportunity to study according to German standard medical programs.

Currently, there are nearly 80 students studying this program.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/chuong-trinh-hoc-y-quoc-te-bi-cham-dut-sinh-vien-gui-tam-thu-sang-duc-20251022162148899.htm