Letter to Medical Students on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Vietnamese Doctors' Day by Associate Professor, Dr., Senior Lecturer Hoang Duc Hanh

Dear medical students of Dai Nam University!

68 years ago, beloved Uncle Ho sent a letter to the Health sector on the occasion of the Health Workers Conference held in Hanoi. The letter was published in the People's Newspaper on February 27, 1955, with only 368 words, expressing three extremely important contents of the Health sector, which are: Must be honest and united; Love the sick; Build the country's Medicine.

On February 6, 1985, the Council of Ministers (now the Government) issued Decision No. 39/HDBT to make February 27 every year "Vietnam Doctors' Day". This is a source of pride and honor for the health sector's staff. At the same time, it is also the sacred and noble duty and responsibility of each health worker to the community, society and nation.

Dai Nam University is one of the few non-public universities trusted by the Ministry of Education and Training to grant the decision to train in the field of Medicine.

Dear students!

It is an honor and pride that soon you will become doctors, officially entering the ranks of cadres and employees in the health sector, a noble profession with a noble mission - the mission of curing and saving people, a profession that is honored by society and necessary in all times.

As a core training major, the Medical major receives special investment and development attention from Dai Nam University.

The process of striving, developing and the contributions of the health sector are extremely proud. Along with that is the trust, expectation of the people and the demands of practical life in the context of globalization and the rapid development of science and technology. Especially the complicated epidemic situation - the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the socio-economy of the world and Vietnam. This is the motivation for all health workers to continue to strive and maximize their potential; overcome difficulties, shortcomings and inadequacies; successfully fulfill the mission of caring for, protecting and improving people's health; build a scientific, national and popular Vietnamese health care system as beloved Uncle Ho instructed; have an increasingly important position and contribution in world medicine; contribute to building a rich - strong - democratic - equitable - civilized Vietnam.

Accordingly, Dai Nam University Medical students experience a dynamic, modern learning environment with advanced, updated training programs; practice with modern equipment to ensure proficiency in skills before going to clinical training at hospitals.

Every medical staff should always be a shining example of striving to improve their expertise and professional ethics, not only to help people maintain and improve their health and overcome diseases, but also to leave in people's hearts warm feelings, unforgettable memories, and beautiful thoughts about humanity and human ethics. So that everywhere, every time we hear the two words Doctor, Pharmacist, Nurse. So that the image of the white blouse is always the embodiment of knowledge, honor, and personality of a physician, as in the spirit of the Hippocratic oath; As Hai Thuong Lan Ong said, "Medicine is a noble profession", "A physician must cultivate himself with eight words: Humanity - Wisdom - Virtue - Wisdom - Capacity - Sincerity - Modesty - Diligence"; as beloved Uncle Ho said, "Must throw himself into dirty places to clean them, must throw himself into places of suffering to reduce suffering, a physician must be like a mother".

This is also the expectation, trust and promise of doctors, officers and employees in the health sector on Vietnamese Doctors' Day.

So what do you have to do to become a doctor who is good at his profession and has good medical ethics?

First, you must have a good learning method.

Regarding good study methods for medical students, you can refer to many different documents. You can apply them to your studies in an effective and practical way. I would like to suggest a few points for your reference:

- Self-study is the main thing. The amount of knowledge in a lesson is very large, the lecturer does not have time to solve each problem in depth, so students must actively self-study to understand the problems required by the lesson. In the university environment, no one checks the students' daily learning, so students need to be self-motivated to study.

In addition to the required knowledge in the textbook, you must read additional reference materials to understand the lesson thoroughly, deeply and update new knowledge. Self-study helps you learn more effectively, understand deeply, expand, consolidate and remember the lesson firmly.

Self-study will help children develop big ideas, look at problems from many perspectives, deepen their thinking, develop their thinking ability, discover creative ideas, and practical applications. The self-study process will help us become more persistent in improving our knowledge and handling situations, overcoming obstacles in our studies. Self-study is a passion, not pressured by scores and time, studying when we feel interested; self-study with good results helps us affirm our learning ability, is a driving force, helping us study well.

In particular, Dai Nam Medical students are also trained to have outstanding competitive advantages in foreign languages, soft skills, discipline and lifelong health training habits.

- Actively listening to lectures helps the process of receiving knowledge more effectively. Spend less time reviewing. Listen for important keywords, concepts, and definitions that need to be remembered. Pay attention to the lecturer's body language. Focus on the lecturer's words, not his appearance; don't get caught up in other things, don't let your mind wander; always try to answer the lecturer's questions. Take the initiative to ask questions about things you don't understand so that the lecturer can answer them.

If permitted by the lecturer, take pictures of the summary diagrams, images or audio recordings of the lecturer's presentation to review/listen to at home.

- Taking effective notes will help you make an effort to listen to the lecture; help you remember knowledge better; grasp important issues that the lecturer emphasizes; create an effective "study guide". When taking notes, you should summarize the main content of the lesson, the key points and keywords to remember. Use abbreviations or symbols to save time. Try to take notes in the form of diagrams or drawings to remember longer.

- Study in groups to share and learn experiences together. Increase communication skills, responsibility; increase teamwork ability; practice logical thinking skills. When studying and working in groups, it is necessary to assign specific tasks to each member; listen to others; ask questions to understand correctly and deeply the issues.

Develop presentation and persuasion skills to get others to accept your ideas; respect and help each other; demonstrate responsibility for assigned work; praise and support the efforts of team members.

- Learning combined with practice helps to understand more deeply and remember longer the knowledge learned; illuminates and enlivens the knowledge learned in theoretical lessons; makes learning less boring. At the same time, learning combined with practice will help students apply knowledge to professional practice.

For medical students, the first and second years combine theory with practice in laboratories and practice rooms. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth years combine theory with clinical studies in hospitals.

After graduating, general practitioners of Dai Nam University confidently integrate into working environments and have enough capacity to work not only in Vietnam but also abroad.

Second, you must be passionate about learning to become a good doctor.

You must have the desire to study well, the desire to excel, the desire to save people, the desire to help the community. Only then will you have great determination, a strong will to study, practice, overcome all difficulties, and complete your study program well. Take advantage of the solid foundation of facilities, learning equipment, teaching staff, and advanced training programs of the Faculty of Medicine to cultivate and develop your career.

In the coming time, with the aspiration, wisdom, and solidarity of the Chairman of the School Council, the School Council, the Board of Directors, the staff, lecturers, and employees of Dai Nam University; I believe that teachers and students will continue to innovate in teaching and learning to train Doctors: "Deep in medical theory - Good at medical skills - Rich in medical ethics, dynamic, and devoted to the community, contributing to training quality human resources for the Vietnamese healthcare sector".

Wishing you good health, happiness and success!

Friendly!

Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Duc Hanh - Head of Faculty of Medicine, Dai Nam University