Is residency the only way to become a good doctor, an 'elite doctor'?

This is the opinion of the teacher, Dr. Nguyen Quang Bay - Head of the Department of Endocrinology - Diabetes, lecturer of the Department of Internal Medicine at Hanoi Medical University and also a resident physician - for the 50th resident physicians, which is causing a stir on social networks.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duy Anh, Director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital (8th from the right), welcomes the 50th resident doctors of the obstetrics and gynecology department - Photo: BVCC

There have been many articles about the "resident phenomenon", but it is mainly just through the "matching" process and then many former residents write flex articles, without understanding the training method, evaluating the learning process, and even misunderstanding, leading to excessive praise. Those mistakes are:

1. Training of resident doctors is a specialty of medical human resource training in Vietnam: We learn from advanced countries such as the US, France, UK... In fact, this is just a transitional training program because newly graduated doctors are not yet qualified to practice, so they need further training, and training by specialty. Anyone with toothache, eye pain, swollen joints or goiter... wants to see a specialist, not a general practitioner.

2. Only the very best people pass the residency exam: Not true. In addition to the reason of studying hard and passing the exam, there are also personal reasons, because many people after getting a medical degree will choose to work immediately because they want or have the opportunity to practice at a hospital (maybe not big) with their favorite specialty, then after a few years come back to study for a master's or doctorate. Great teachers always exist in every hospital. The first doctorate of my class did not study for residency.

3. Studying for a residency is the only way to become a good doctor: False, because there are many other very attractive paths such as studying for a master's degree, studying for a specialty I, studying for a doctorate, or even finding a scholarship to study abroad. But studying for a residency is also a very good path for those who love it, have the ability, and are willing to strive.

4. The residency exam is extremely difficult: If a talent selection exam has a passing rate of over 50%, it is essentially just a qualifying exam. The formula for a good grading exam is a passing rate of only about 20%.

5. Resident doctors will definitely be successful people: Good people and successful people are not always the same. Many experts have analyzed that good students, high scores are often people who follow the books, sometimes have low creativity, and may not be good at improvisation.

Prof. Dr. Le Ngoc Thanh, principal of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy (right cover) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Cam Phuong (left cover) awarded graduation certificates to resident doctors specializing in oncology at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi on July 30 - Photo: NGUYEN BAO

6. Just being able to enter the residency program will definitely make you a "talented" person: Usually, residency training programs like ACGME (USA) or Australia will be divided into 5-7 levels of competence, while first-year residents are only equivalent to level 0.5 - 1, which is equal to or lower than the level/competence of 6th-year medical students. Most residents who graduate consider achieving level 5/6 to be successful. Even accepting a level of competence of 4/6 for poor residents. Of course, there are also many who achieve level 6/6.

7. Studying for a residency is like studying any other graduate program: My friend told the residents to consider themselves as medical workers, swallow their tears, grit their teeth and endure hardships to study and grow up. Many exams, many night shifts, and many scoldings from teachers and seniors are normal, because "Love is love". Remember that in front of you is the patient's life, behind you is the law.

8. All residents are elite upon graduation: Residency is a long-distance race, requiring a lot of studying, reading and doing to progress. In life, there are lazy people and diligent people everywhere. Becoming a good doctor is not difficult, but please stay away from the titles "elite", "talented", "super good" or "superhuman".

9. Once you get into residency, you can get out: In the past, almost every class had people fail, due to low test scores (required to be 7/10 or higher, 6/10 is a failure) or because of sneaking out to hang out with their girlfriends, sneaking back to sleep at home, not being a permanent resident, and being called by the teachers at midnight. But recently, with the nature of mass training, the requirements are not as strict as before.

10. 3 years of residency training plus 6 years of university is too long: In reality, it is too little. In many countries, the residency training process usually lasts 4-5 years, and in some difficult specialties such as neurosurgery, it can last 8-9 years. But after this period, they can immediately apply for professor/associate professor positions at other hospitals. You can read more about the book "When Breath Becomes Air" by a former American resident.

11. Resident doctors sit and examine patients, prescribe or perform surgery almost like the main doctor, if not then must be about 7/10: It must be clearly identified that resident doctors are postgraduate students, that is, they are still studying, their capacity is at level 2-3-4/6, and they do not have a practice certificate so they are only assistants and are not allowed to prescribe treatment, intervene or prescribe independently. They must practice under the supervision of teachers or main doctors.

12. If you think that residency training is too expensive, it is your fault for not researching carefully. Otherwise, take out a bank loan to study or go to work. It is normal for American doctors and residents to receive their degrees at the same time with a bank loan of several hundred thousand dollars. You can also choose to take the residency exam through recruitment by the Department of Health to receive tuition and salary sponsorship during your studies.

13. All residents after graduation will be welcomed by large hospitals: With the number of trainees 10-20 times higher than before, it is not uncommon today for residents to work at provincial hospitals, district hospitals or medical centers. But if the resident is really good (it is easy to know because we have been following him for 3 years), large hospitals such as Bach Mai, Viet Duc... always open their doors. If public hospitals miss out on talent, private hospitals and international hospitals, which are very sophisticated, will roll out the red carpet to welcome you right away.

14. Studying for a residency is just about learning a specialty: You have to learn comprehensively, in addition to the specialty, you also have to learn and practice communication (including the skill of reporting bad news), teamwork, finding documents yourself, improving yourself and being responsible to the training facility and society...

In short, the title of resident physician is being pushed too high due to the halo of classes many years ago, or because social networks are starved for information. I know that the residents of class 50 probably don't like this because I see very few of them showing off their majors online like every year. Take a deep breath, enjoy the days before school, and prepare your battle plan, my students.

P/S: There are 2 books, "The Physician" and "When Breath Becomes Air", that I recommend you to read. Pay attention to the advice of Mr. Pho to his student, who later became a very good doctor: "Killing someone is easy, and I have done it. Keeping them alive is much harder, keeping them healthy is even harder. That is the task we must always remember."

NGUYEN QUANG BAY

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-phai-hoc-bac-si-noi-tru-la-con-duong-duy-nhat-tro-thanh-bac-si-gioi-bac-si-tinh-hoa-20250915084048847.htm