The IMPACT MED (Improving Access, Curriculum and Teaching in Medical education and Emerging Diseases) Alliance, supported by USAID, is a public-private partnership which brings together a diverse group of university, public and private sector partners. The project goal is to build a strong and effective health workforce in Vietnam able to respond to 21st century priorities and to contribute to the health resilience and health security of the country. IMPACT MED Alliance works with the Vietnam Ministry of Health, medical universities, and hospitals to improve medical education and training in Vietnam. The Alliance consists of private sector partners including Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Samsung, CLAS Healthcare, Roche, Bravo, General Electric and 3M. HAIVN (The Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam) is a collaboration of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
On 23 February 2017, HAIVN hosted the first IMPACT MED Alliance Partners Meeting. The meeting was held at the Ho Chi Minh University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the school’s Smart Classroom, a new modern classroom space supported by Samsung. The purpose of the Partner’s Meeting was to provide an opportunity for Alliance members to provide input to the project’s direction, to share information about their planned contributions, and to discuss the best way to work together as an Alliance to ensure the success of the project.
During the workshop, each company representative shared their areas of potential engagement. Participants discussed about the opportunities and challenges for Alliance members and how to create a shared vision and a sense of joint ownership of the project and its achievements. The need for effective mechanisms of collaboration and communication among partners was stressed. Alliance members agreed on the benefits of joining the Alliance and prospective members also joined the meeting to learn more about the project.. “Once again, I would like to confirm our commitment of our company in this meaningful project, we will continue provide professional support to IMPACT MED project”, said Ms. Mai Thanh Binh from Johnson and Johnson. In addition, some members, such as Microsoft, committed to working to enlist more partners into the Alliance
Assoc. Prof. Pham Thi Minh Hong, Vice-Dean, UMP Faculty of Medicine said in her remark: “I would like to take this chance to thanks and express my admiration and thankful to IMPACT MED alliance members to work with HCM UMP for over the past few years. We truly look forward to growing our partnership in the coming times”.
