(Vienna, 08 June 2010) These days MUVI was officially commissioned to carry out the feasibility study for the establishment of a medical faculty at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City. At the core of this project there is the implementation of an innovative curriculum in which teaching in small groups and clinical practice are in the foreground.
As early as in the year 2008 a first memorandum of understanding was signed in Vienna about the academic cooperation of the Rectors of MedUni Vienna and Vietnam National University. MUVI Managing Director Elisabeth Chalupa-Gartner (Mag.) has headed negotiations with the Honorary Consul of Austria in Vietnam Dr. Dao Trung and the President of Vietnam National University (VNU) Prof. Dr. Phan Thanh Binh from the beginning onwards. "The feasibility study is the result of about two years of intensive preliminary work", says Chalupa-Gartner.
For MUVI this feasibility study represents a premiere in its international commitments. To date, the Medical University of Vienna International has mainly implemented projects in the field of healthcare management. Says Univ. Prof. Christian Herold: "This is the first time that the MedUni Vienna's field of studies and teaching is at the centre of a MUVI project. In this way we are exporting modern and top-notch higher education to countries which are investing in their tertiary education sector according to Western standards."
The model for the Vietnamese curriculum is the new Medical Curriculum Vienna (MCV), which replaced the former 100-year-old curriculum in 2002. For Vietnam and its education sector, the implementation of an integrated medical curriculum constitutes a major step. Ao. Prof. Dr. Rudolf Mallinger, Vice Rector for Studies and Teaching of MedUni Vienna, who is one of the fathers of the MCV, is pleased: "The export of our curriculum contributes to the sustainable development of medical expertise and competences in Vietnam and therefore also enhances the MedUni Vienna's international reputation."
The project launch was accompanied by festivities, in which also the Austrian ambassador Dr. Georg Heindl, the Honorary Consul of Austria Dr. Dao Ha Trung, the Vice Rector for Studies and Teaching Ao. Prof. Dr. Rudolf Mallinger, representatives of Vietnam National University, the MUVI Managing Directors as well as experts of all project partners took part.
Vietnam's first integrated medical curriculum
The Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City is one of two major universities of Vietnam and provides graduate and postgraduate programmes to some 35,400 students. The university was founded in 1995 after the merger of several universities and subsequently reorganised in 2001, with the aim of becoming a forerunner in the field of postgraduate training and scientific research.
In 2000 around 2% of the employed Vietnamese population boasted a university degree. To increase this rate the State is modernising its tertiary education sector and is investing in measures to develop it in terms of quality.
Medical University of Vienna International (MUVI) to draw up feasibility study for Vietnamese medical faculty
These days MUVI was officially commissioned to carry out the feasibility study for the establishment of a medical faculty at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City. At the core of this project there is the implementation of an innovative curriculum in which teaching in small groups and clinical practice are in the foreground.