Do the students graduating from medical school in Vietnam receive a bachelor's degree or a doctor's degree?

Do the students graduating from medical school in Vietnam receive a bachelor's degree or a doctor's degree?

Based on Clause 2, Article 12 of the 2019 Education Law, the degrees of the national education system include:

- Lower secondary school diploma

- Upper secondary school diploma

- Intermediate diploma

- College diploma

- Bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctoral degree, and equivalent qualification.

- Graduating with a bachelor's degree, alternatively called graduating from university according to the 2019 Education Law. Additionally, a university degree is understood as a degree issued by a higher education institution to individuals who have graduated from a university level.

# Types of university diplomas

- Currently, there are many universities across the country but there are only 5 types of university diplomas, including:

+ Engineer degree

+ Architect degree

+ Doctor's degree

+ Bachelor's degree

+ And the graduation certificate for other fields.

- Among them, the most common is the bachelor's degree, which is a type of degree within the national education system.

+ The bachelor's degree is issued to students who have completed the university program.

+ The diploma details personal information, the school attended, and graduation results for various future purposes.

Simultaneously, a university diploma is also used alongside other levels such as higher education, master's level, doctoral level (Article 38 of the 2019 Education Law).

Thus, comparing the above regulations, the bachelor's degree and the doctor's degree are two distinct degrees.

The bachelor's degree is a general term for students who have graduated from university, understood as a degree issued by higher education institutions to students who meet the graduation requirements of a formal university program. The bachelor's degree is also the university degree.

For the doctor's degree, this is a specific type of degree that requires additional study to be awarded, hence graduating from medical university is temporarily called a bachelor's degree, not yet a doctor's degree.

Do the students graduating from medical school in Vietnam receive a bachelor's degree or a doctor's degree? (Image from the Internet)

How many years of university study is required to get a doctor’s degree in Vietnam?

The doctor’s degree is a specific type of degree, thus requiring more specialized study.

Typically, the duration of a medical university program will extend for 5 years instead of 6 years as it is now.

Graduates of medical universities must pass a national exam to get a certificate and then undergo a period of professional practice from 1 to 3 years before being allowed to practice medicine.

Requirements for specialized higher education programs based on Article 14 of Decree 99/2019/ND-CP stipulate the level of training for some specialized fields that is required for students to achieve, thereby fulfilling the conditions to obtain the degree.

The training level for some specialized fields is the level of persons who have graduated from the following specialized training programs:

- Programs with a study load of 150 credits or more for graduates of upper secondary school and equivalent, or at least 30 credits for university degree graduates.

- Programs with a study load of at least 90 credits for those who have an equivalent Level 7 according to the Vietnamese National Qualifications Framework.

Based on the input conditions, the minimum study load, lecturer standards, graduation standards, and other standards in the training program standards for higher education degrees.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training’s regulations, graduates of specialized training programs are ranked at the corresponding level in the Vietnamese National Qualifications Framework.

Thus, comparing the above regulations, an average of 8 years of university study is required to get a doctor’s degree (including the 1-3 years of professional practice beforehand).

Note: Depending on the student's pace, the duration can be shortened or extended.

What are regulations on the student's academic performance grading scale in Vietnam?

Based on Clause 5, Article 10 of the University Training Regulation issued with Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT, the student's academic performance grading based on semester GPA, academic year GPA, or cumulative GPA is as follows:

- On a 4-point scale:

+ From 3.6 to 4.0: Excellent;

+ From 3.2 to below 3.6: Good;

+ From 2.5 to below 3.2: Fair;

+ From 2.0 to below 2.5: Average;

+ From 1.0 to below 2.0: Weak;

+ Below 1.0: Poor.

- On a 10-point scale:

+ From 9.0 to 10.0: Excellent;

+ From 8.0 to below 9.0: Good;

+ From 7.0 to below 8.0: Fair;

+ From 5.0 to below 7.0: Average;

+ From 4.0 to below 5.0: Weak;

+ Below 4.0: Poor.