How long is the valid duration of a medical practice certificate in Vietnam?

LAWNET would like to answer this question as follows:

According to Article 25 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009 of Vietnam, medical practice certificates shall be granted to those fully meeting the conditions specified by law. A medical practice certificate shall be granted once and is valid nationwide. Currently, there is no regulation on the duration of medical practice certificates. However, this does not mean that the certificate is valid indefinitely. A medical practice certificate shall be revoked when:

- It is granted ultra vires;

- It contains contents contrary to law:

- The practitioner fails to practice for 2 consecutive years;

- The practitioner is confirmed to have committed professional and technical mistakes causing serious consequences to the health or life of patients;

- The practitioner fails to update medical knowledge for 2 consecutive years;

- The practitioner fails to meet health requirements for professional practice:

- The practitioner falls into any of the cases: being banned from professional practice or work related to the medical or pharmaceutical profession under court rulings or decisions; being examined for penal liability: serving penal sentences or rulings of courts or administrative sanction decisions on confinement to educational or medical treatment establishments: being disciplined by caution or a higher level related to professional medical examination and treatment; or losing civil act capacity or having civil act capacity restricted.

Thus, although there is no regulation on the duration of the medical practice certificate, the certificate holder may still not be able to use the certificate for the reasons mentioned above.

Moreover, the information that the duration of a medical practice certificate is 5 years is currently only available for comment in the Draft Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, until now, it has not been officially issued, so in practice this regulation is not applicable.

Hai Thanh

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