Ambitions of the successive generations

On the early morning of April 10, 2023, I sat down to reread the pages written by Teacher, the People's Teacher, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hưng, opening my heart with inevitable melancholy and thoughtful contemplation. Through the article I also see the early difficulties of the formation of the University Medical and Pharmacy Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City. A feeling of being small before the Teacher's grand ideas, before the aspirations, before the determination, and the truly scientific, skillful steps, to be able to create a University Medical and Pharmacy Hospital of HCMC (UMC) as it is today, a model in medical treatment and medical education in Vietnam.

Since the 1990s, no one dared to think of such a UMC. Who could overcome the prejudices, the hat: following capitalism. Who had enough perseverance and cleverness to find opportunities, find a path, find reasons to persuade at least ten leaders of the City, Ministries, and Government to obtain the policy to establish the school's hospital, besides medical treatment also serving the most effective medical education. It must be genuine physicians, dedicated to the teaching profession, who have ideas for the development of medical human resources training. There must be a school hospital to train excellent teachers and students to have a medical workforce with both virtue and talent in practical tasks.

My teacher is not only someone with far-sighted vision, who makes correct judgments about the inevitable development direction of scientific universities, but also a person who is very persistent in his orientation, very brave, very diligent, very skillful, and especially very resilient. Only by combining all these qualities can we create UMC and enable UMC to achieve future development strength.

First, the starting point must be the thought and desire to have a teaching hospital for the school from the early days of loving the profession, being devoted to the profession, dedicated to the future of the medical generation, and to the health of the people. Moreover, to have such far-sighted vision and desire requires that the pioneers have scientific knowledge and have learning experiences in countries with advanced medical education. These important ideas created a turning point in the development of a teaching hospital of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City. Without dreams, without ambition, a rich reality cannot be achieved. However, the road from dream and ambition to having a proper standard hospital that can be both professionally excellent and a proper training and research place, a good practice site for medical students, is a rough and difficult path. The path is full of obstacles to reach the goal because there is no clear direction, each step must be explored, must seek permission, must prove. The people who take the first brave steps encounter many difficulties

and challenge themselves, must learn to walk more steadily for those who follow, must have pure faith, a wholesome will, a great ambition for the School and for future generations.

Secondly, to overcome those difficulties and obstacles requires perseverance. It is known that Teacher Nguyễn Đình Hưng persuaded many in order to obtain the support of the School's Board of Directors to agree with the policy of establishing a hospital within the school. The teacher once wrote: “… the major difficulties are the reactions regarding the policy of a practice hospital for outpatient care. In many meetings, school officials took turns with the microphone to express that it should not be done. At times the tone was heavy, perhaps out of fear of losing a seat… There are many other challenges to overcome, such as how to obtain financing to build the outpatient facility, how to obtain an operating license, how to renovate the existing facility into a clinic, how to establish an operating mechanism like an initial private hospital. Without perseverance, without determination, those difficulties cannot be overcome.”

Third, to be able to overcome so many difficulties, besides perseverance one must also consider the ability to present, skillfully persuade. One must persuade the Ministries, the School to approve the policy of establishing a hospital, persuade the Ministry of Health leaders about the significance of establishing the hospital, persuade financial organizations to lend capital for building facilities and equipment for the hospital, persuade the Ho Chi Minh City leadership about the land next to the hospital… A pure heart, a compassion for everyone, an experienced Teacher… can obtain solid theoretical support, skillful presentation, and persuade authorities in the formation and development of the hospital.

Wednesday, people who have full ambition and vision can persuade the person opposite them, can persuade the group. Those who carry in their history many failures, many self‑serving schemes cannot earn the heart, cannot gain the trust of many people. But people who are full of credibility, dedication, righteousness, and kindness are very easy to persuade. “Don’t do to others… Borrow any amount is possible”, “Whenever I can”, “Don’t take benefits for oneself” are the answers to the difficult financial problem that the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy had to face in the early stage. The teacher wrote: how must we be in order to obtain such empathy, such wonderful support? I think it is all due to sincerity, due to the teacher's credibility.

Thursday, to receive attention, to receive sponsorship, to create the unity of the school community is merely to overcome part of the difficulty. How to obtain a staff team for the hospital, how to operate the hospital effectively? All of it feels like starting in an unfavorable circumstance, an initial step, an exploratory step. A bold, pioneering step by the leader, a person with deep vision to understand that establishing a teaching hospital is a crucial turning point for the school and the country in training medical human resources that are both virtuous and talented. Only bold, steadfast, and courageous steps can overcome the initial difficulties to achieve subsequent strong strides.

As a long-time lecturer of that era, with 18 years of clinical teaching at public hospitals under Professor Ho Chi Minh, I also had thoughts and a dream to work, teach, and develop myself within the hospital environment of my school. However, I have some doubts about working in this environment, dreaming of having a teaching hospital like the teaching hospitals we see in countries with advanced medical systems. Thanks to the efforts of this respected teacher, the ambition to “CREATE” the teacher's teaching hospital has become a reality. Through the tireless efforts, dedication, and commitment of that teacher, the dream of having a proper teaching hospital has been realized, allowing future physicians to receive systematic training, study, and practice in a high-quality practical environment.

How can we achieve a “UMC chain”, how can we expand to a regional level, how can we endure. Do we have that ambition or not, do we dare to face difficulties to achieve that ambition as those who came before have done, have dared to realize that dream or not. We, the successors, are following the path of the pioneers. The previous answer; We, the children of the school “not old but this wonderful Teacher Co” must always be conscious of our responsibility to bring out the best results. There will also be many challenges for the next generation to develop further, but compared to the difficulties the previous generation overcame and the “tradition” left by the teachers, we will be able to overcome them. I am confident that we will dare to move forward with strong, steady steps on the development path to make UMC become the leading university hospital in Vietnam and on par with the region.

What about you?