The project had also trained 235 clinicians in new skills and knowledge, 455 teachers in new teaching methodologies, equipped 11 skills labs, arranged for six additional hospitals to be used for students’ practical training, and developed 30 checklists and learning guides.

The two-day Final Dissemination Workshop was attended by Deputy Minister of Health Tran Thi Kim Tien, representatives of Pathfinder International, experts from the University of California in San Francisco (USA) and the University of New South Wales (Australia) and representatives of several NGOs acting in the field.

Students from eight medical universities and colleges nationwide also attended the workshop.

The project had successfully introduced innovative approaches including problem-based learning, evidence-based medicine, self-directed learning and objective structured clinical examination, participants said.

The project achievements were praised by Deputy Health Minister Tien who urged the medical schools to sustain and scale up the training models developed by the project to areas other than reproductive health and to other schools in the country.

Supported by international donors, particularly Pathfinder International, which was the execution and technical support agency, the project expanded in 2006 to cover eight of the nation’s 10 medical schools throughout the country.

The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Hue Medical University were involved in the project’s inception. — VNS