The Ministry of Health (MoH) has slammed the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) for a range of issues that have led to concerns over education quality at local private medical schools.

In a document signed by a vice minister, the health ministry said there is a certain surplus of graduates from the nursing major and the pharmacy discipline at the intermediate level.  

It also complained that many medical schools, especially private ones, have failed to provide a qualified training program as they lack both capacity and necessary facilities.

Many private medical schools have recruited too many students despite their limited capability and resources, medical school presidents pointed out at a meeting in August.

They have lowered the selection bar to admit that many in a bid to push their earnings from tuition, and thus may compromise on quality, the educators said. 

Tuoi Tre has learned that many students have made it into private medical schools even when they scored merely 50 percent on national standardized tests, which Vietnam uses to select students for higher education each year. Meanwhile, top-tier public medical universities, which offer higher-quality education, only admit those who scored at least 75 percent on the same tests. 

The education body should tighten its regulations on the offering of any new major and seek engagement from the health ministry as well as medical experts when it comes to issuing any license for private medical schools, MoH suggested.

Health and education ministers should meet this month to discuss the above issues in further detail, it proposed.

In Vietnam medical students spend four to six years in college before they are conferred a degree.

Applicants are allowed to seek admission to a medical school as soon as they graduate from high school.