Practice of Medicine (POM) is an innovative medical education course in Vietnam which exposes students to clinical teaching and patient contact early in their medical education. It emphasizes community-based, longitudinal patient care, strengthening the doctor-patient relationship and provides context to the pre-clinical concepts students learn in the classroom. These competencies and skills have been identified by the Vietnam Ministry of Health as necessary for graduates to meet the growing needs and demands of the Vietnamese population.
During July 31 – August 4, 2017, the USAID Improving Access, Curriculum and Teaching in Medical Education and Emerging Diseases (IMPACT-MED) Alliance invited Dr. Kristen Goodell, Education Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care, to provide training and technical assistance to three Universities of Medicine and Pharmacy (UMPs), in Hai Phong, Thai Binh and Ho Chi Minh city. The trainings aimed to assist the faculty to develop and implement POM courses at medical universities in Vietnam. In addition to Dr. Goodell, Dr. Nguyen An Nghia from HCMC UMP shared insights and practical experience on how to organize and teach professionalism to medical students. The goal is to develop a course that lays the foundation for preparing Vietnam’s future doctors to provide high quality, ethical and patient-centered clinical care.
