Medical students and scientists will benefit from joint research projects
08.11.2012
The University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany and the Pham Ngoc Thach University in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam have agreed to extend their collaboration by establishing a joint German-Vietnamese Faculty of Medicine at Pham Ngoc Thach University. A corresponding cooperation agreement was signed in Mainz by a Vietnamese delegation during a three-day visit. This will be of particular benefit to medical students as well as to academics from both universities who are involved in joint research projects.
"The students and scientists we send to Vietnam are confronted by illnesses that practically or only very rarely occur in our part of the world," explains the Chief Scientific Officer of the Mainz University Medical Center, Professor Dr. Dr. Reinhard Urban, regarding the main advantage of the cooperation. "In our globalized world, we will inevitably need the experience to deal with these diseases sooner or later." The agreement also meets a further need of the Mainz University Medical Center: "The exchange will give students the opportunity to think outside the much quoted box and also get to know other cultures," says Urban.
The Medical Center of Mainz University and the Pham Ngoc Thach University in Ho Chi Minh City have been cooperating since 2007. Outlined in the current agreement are two projects that are to be conducted over the long term. One will involve the Mainz University Medical Center providing support to their Vietnamese partner university in restructuring their medical syllabus so that it meets the requirements of the new study regulations at Mainz. An English and Vietnamese translation of the Mainz curriculum has already been given to the partner university in Vietnam. This means that, starting from 2013, students in Ho Chi Minh City will have the opportunity to complete their entire study program in accordance with the regulations of the new German-Vietnamese Faculty of Medicine. They will thus first be able to acquire a comparable degree in 2019.
The second project represents a further milestone on the road to enhanced healthcare in Ho Chi Minh City: The Pham Ngoc Thach University will build a university hospital that conforms to the standards obtaining in Mainz using its own resources and support from the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. During the first construction phase, a much-needed university cardiac center is to be built. Professor Dr. Georg Dieter Kneissl is engaged in working out the details of the two latter cooperation targets on behalf of Mainz University Medical Center. The cardiac center project in Ho Chi Minh City is being sponsored by the Adolf Messer Foundation.