Hanoi (VNA) - New medical graduates could be required towork for three to five years at healthcare centres in outlying regions to meeta critical lack of doctors and help improve healthcare services there.

Pham Van Tac, Director of the Personnel Department under theMinistry of Health, said the proposed initiative would require graduates towork at district and commune-level healthcare centres, particularly in Vietnam’s62 most disadvantaged districts.

“In the future, the requirement could be included in a law onsocial responsibilities and obligations of medical workers,” Tac told the NhanDan (People’s) newspaper, adding that this would be a condition for alicense to practice medicine.

In 2013, the Health Ministry launched a pilot programme for youngdoctors to volunteer in disadvantaged areas. Last month, after undergoingspecialised training, 78 volunteers from central and provincial hospitals wentto work in poor communes and districts of four northern provinces - Lao Cai, SonLa, Bac Kan and Dien Bien.

According to the Health Ministry, the public healthcare sector inVietnam’s 62 poorest districts faces a shortage of about 600 doctors in 15specialities.

Director of the Cao Bang province Health Department  Luc Van Dai,said that the province had 199 commune healthcare centres but only 90 hadfacilities meeting national standards, 40 needed more doctors and some didn’teven have one doctor. All the district general hospitals in the province lackeddoctors.

For example, the Bac Ha district General Hospital in northern LaoCai province has not received any new doctors in the last ten years, and somegood ones have left. Vice director of the hospital Nguyen Nhu Tuan said therewas a critical shortage of doctors for important departments like cardiology,and the hospital cannot perform half the treatments required by the healthministry of district hospitals.

A shortage of high-quality medical workers has been blamed forpublic mistrust in grassroots healthcare, resulting in overcrowding athigher-level hospitals, according to the ministry.

[Young doctors volunteer to🍬 work in poor district♋s]

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that working atgrassroots healthcare centres in disadvantaged areas could offer young doctorspractical lessons in various diseases and give them the chance to implementclinical treatments.

“Without strengthening grassroots healthcare, Vietnam’s healthcaresector can’t address major issues like non-communicable diseases, childmalnutrition, life span and the height and weight of Vietnamese,” she said.

“If Vietnam can improve primary healthcare by sending high-qualitystaff to grassroots facilities, they will earn the trust of local people. Theywill use local healthcare centres instead of flocking to central-levelhospitals,” she added.

Vu Thi Ly, a new graduate from Vietnam University of TraditionalMedicine, said she agreed with Minister Tien about the advantages of working inprimary healthcare centres. “We are aware of the disadvantages, too. Forexample, poor facilities and infrastructure put higher pressure on medicalworkers and patients, especially in emergencies,” she said. “Working in remote,disadvantaged areas should be optional instead of compulsory.”

Ly also said that policies for medical workers, particularlypayment and allowances, should be improved to attract them to the publichealthcare system.

Nguyen Lan Phuong, a new graduate from the Vietnam MilitaryMedical University, told Viet Nam News that medical students have longertraining programmes than other students - six years instead of four - and arethen required to do an internship of up to 18 months, part of which they haveto fund themselves.

“If medical graduates are required to work in remote,disadvantaged areas to earn a licence, this means we have more challenges toovercome. The challenge will surely cost time, money and sweat,” she said.-VNA