The IMPACT MED Alliance brings together a diverse group of university, public sector, and private sector partners to build a strong and effective health workforce in Vietnam able to respond to 21st century priorities and contribute to the health resilience and health security of the country.

BUILDS CAPACITY IN MEDICAL TEACHING, LEARNING, AND INNOVATION

The IMPACT MED Alliance works with five medical universities and policymakers to improve and innovate undergraduate medical education by providing technical assistance to comprehensively reform the six-year training program for general medical doctors. Training led by Harvard Medical School educators produces faculty with improved skills in curriculum design, active learning, and clinical teaching, and creates a community of faculty to develop innovations in medical education. A close partnership with the Ministry of Health facilitates sharing successful models and lessons learned with universities nationwide.

STRENGTHENS RESPONSE TO EMERGING HEALTH THREATS

The Alliance is helping to prepare Vietnam’s health systems for emerging health threats by strengthening hospital infection control programs, training health workers, and developing antimicrobial stewardship programs to improve antibiotic use. Through partnership with hospitals and professional societies, the Alliance develops curriculum, implements standard operating procedures, and trains and mentors health workers at select hospitals. The Alliance also uses interdisciplinary education and distance learning technology to improve collaboration among clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, and public health practitioners. The project is helping Vietnam to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by training health workers and senior medical students in prevention and control of COVID-19 and by providing technical support to hospitals across the country.

TRANSFORMS POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION

With the goal of introducing standardized postgraduate training programs in all health specialties in Vietnam, the IMPACT MED Alliance provides technical support to policy makers at the Ministry of Health towards the development of laws and policies governing postgraduate medical education. Concurrently, the Alliance is collaborating with the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City to develop and pilot a new surgical residency training program which will serve as a model for postgraduate medical training throughout the country.

EXPECTED RESULTS

By 2020, more than 2,000 university faculty will be trained in new educational methods and five leading medical universities will be implementing a reformed six-year curriculum for training general medical doctors.  In 2020 alone, more than 8,000 students, faculty and health experts will be trained in COVID 19 prevention and control.  By 2025, there will be more than 5,000 physician-graduates of the new training programs.  By the end of the project, more than 1,000 practicing health workers will be applying best practices in infection prevention and control, antimicrobial use, and response to emerging infectious diseases.