Belgian university backs Vietnam’s family medical practice training

The Belgian university will send two teams of experts to Vietnam annually to provide practical training for lecturers, doctors and nurses of the family medical service department at the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Vice Principal of the HCM City-based University Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hiep said.

Belgian experts will also share experience in managing a family medicine clinic and outstanding Vietnamese trainees will get scholarships to study in Belgium, he added.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Professor Didier Giet, head of the General Medicine Faculty at the University of Liège said the family health service is a successful model in Europe which satisfies about 90 percent of healthcare demand from locals, with only 10 percent of patients in critical conditions admitted to hospitals.

It helps reduce costs for patients and eases the burden on hospitals, he noted.

The professor also stressed that the model in Vietnam should not completely imitate that of Belgium. The University of Liège will support Vietnam to develop a practice-driven system that meets European standards.

The Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine has been assigned by the Ministry of Health to provide education and training for family health workers in Ho Chi Minh City since 2000. 

It launched the first family medical practice in late February 2017.