Recently, social networks were abuzz with a post by a former student of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Duy Tan University) reflecting on the school recruiting students for the School of Dentistry but granting a Doctor of Dentistry degree.

It is known that the first class of this major just graduated in early October 2024.

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Student post reflects on school awarding Doctor of Dentistry degree. Screenshot

Regarding the above information, speaking with VietNamNet , Mr. Tran Huu Dang, Principal of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Duy Tan University) said that the cause of the incident was due to the lack of consistency between the two Decrees, causing difficulties for training institutions.

Decree 99/2019/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the Law on Higher Education stipulates degrees for a number of specific specialized training majors in the higher education system, including degrees in general medicine, dentistry, traditional medicine and a number of other degrees.

Decree 96/2023/ND-CP guiding the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment stipulates the basis for practical guidance for medical titles including medical doctors, preventive medicine doctors, maxillofacial doctors and traditional medicine doctors.

“This is the first course of Duy Tan University School of Medicine and Pharmacy. We followed Decree 99 and asked for the opinion of the Ministry of Education and Training to issue the diploma. The school did not create this diploma itself,” Mr. Dang said about the reason for issuing the Doctor of Dentistry degree.

According to him, when they learned that students applying for jobs at hospitals were not accepted for their Dentistry degrees, the Board of Directors of Duy Tan University asked for the opinion of the Ministry of Education and Training.

“We are very sympathetic and share the concerns of students and their families. This is absolutely true. After a period of continuous work to seek opinions from the Ministry of Education and Training, we have finally been approved to issue a Doctor of Dentistry degree. We are printing the degrees and will distribute them to students this week,” said Mr. Dang.

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Students of the Faculty of Dentistry, Duy Tan University. Photo: Duy Tan University

According to information from Duy Tan University, in the first graduating class, the Faculty of Dentistry had 14 excellent students (23%) and 37 good students (62%) out of a total of 60 students.