On November 14-15, USAID’s Improving Access, Curriculum and Teaching in Medical Education and Emerging Diseases (IMPACT-MED) Alliance, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, and the Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy organized an annual Medical Education Conference in Thai Nguyen City. This conference provides an annual forum for sharing innovations and advances in medical education in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian Region. The two-day event attracted more than 700 professionals, in-person and virtually, including leaders in medical education, students, and faculty in Vietnam and around the world.

This year’s theme, “Partnerships in Medical Education,” was a reflection of the incredible achievement among Vietnamese health professional training institutions, who have formed diverse partnerships with private sector, government, and international institutions to train the current and next generation of healthcare professionals in Vietnam, including training in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference aimed to stimulate and strengthen partnerships and discussions among medical and health education leaders and policy makers, inspire further innovations, advance opportunities for medical education research, and improve the quality and capacity of Vietnam’s health system to respond to COVID-19, along with new and emerging infectious diseases.

So What? This Annual Medical Education Conference is now considered the most important public-private forum to promote and develop Vietnam’s strong, robust, and resilient health workforce, which is critical to ensure sustainable and equitable development in Vietnam, and control COVID-19 and other emerging health threats.