Farewell to Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối: The Teacher of Teachers

Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối passed away at the age of 92, leaving a massive legacy for Vietnamese healthcare with a pioneering hospital-school model, alongside hundreds of students who continue the mission of education and treatment.

The passing of People's Teacher, Prof. Nguyễn Đình Hối, MD, PhD, former Rector of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City and first Director of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital Ho Chi Minh City, has left profound grief across the Vietnamese medical community.

1. The Departure of a Medical Monument

The news of Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối's passing has shocked and deeply saddened the Vietnamese medical community. Across various professional forums, generations of students and colleagues have united in expressing their profound respect for a great teacher who devoted his entire life to education, research, and the construction of a modern healthcare system.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyễn Phan Tú Dung, MD, PhD, National Secretary of the Asian Rhinoplasty Society (ARS), expressed that the departure of Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối is a heavy loss not only for the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City but for all of Vietnamese medicine.

According to Dr. Tú Dung, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối was not merely an exceptional educator, scientist, and administrator, but also someone who shaped the professional mindset of generations of Vietnamese doctors.

The defining hallmark in Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối's career was the creation of the first "hospital-school" model in Vietnam, tightly binding together training, research, and treatment.

From his strategic vision, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital Ho Chi Minh City emerged as a turning point in the healthcare system, as an academic training institution directly operated a practice and research hospital.

Over 30 years later, this model has not only proven its effectiveness but has also become a blueprint learned and replicated by numerous medical facilities and universities nationwide.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyễn Hoàng Bắc, MD, PhD, his son and academic successor, has continued to develop the hospital along its initial direction, rendering the hospital-school model increasingly refined and modern.

Dr. Tú Dung noted that in the eyes of many colleagues, this stands as clear evidence of a legacy residing not only in physical structures, but also within the succeeding generations he trained and inspired.

2. Unforgettable Memories of Generations of Students

Assoc. Prof. Trần Chí Cường, MD, PhD, Director of SIS Can Tho Hospital, termed Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối "an exceptionally great teacher of Vietnamese medicine."

Dr. Cường recalled first meeting the professor in 2004, when he was a young doctor moving from Cần Thơ to Ho Chi Minh City to work. Following only a brief meeting, he was granted the opportunity to work at University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital Ho Chi Minh City.

Two years later, during the interview for a long-term contract, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối directly conversed with him and posed simple yet profound questions regarding his studies and career choices.

Another memory recounted by Dr. Cường was the time the professor prepared to hand over his administrative position. When asked about future directions, he always encouraged his students to boldly build proposals and test novel paths instead of following beaten paths.

In particular, during professional review sessions, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối always inquired meticulously about the benefits and risks of each treatment approach: whether there were other choices, what the prognosis was, and what would happen to the patient without intervention.

Only when every analysis was clarified would he consent to implementing the technique, accompanied by his advice: "Explain it carefully to the patient and execute it with absolute precision."

According to the collective of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital Ho Chi Minh City, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối was "the architect of the legacy of knowledge, governance, and compassion."

Having dedicated over half a century to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, the professor trained hundreds of resident doctors, specialists, masters, and PhDs, contributing to building a high-quality medical workforce for Vietnam.

Professor Hối was once an outstanding student of Professor Tôn Thất Tùng, and spent a long tenure working at Hanoi Medical University before moving to Ho Chi Minh City at the invitation of Professor Trương Công Trung.

There, he successively shouldered important roles such as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Rector of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City from 1993 to 2007, and the first Director of University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital Ho Chi Minh City.

Not only an administrator, Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối was also a scientist with numerous valuable research works, monographs, and textbooks, contributing to shaping the academic foundation for Vietnamese surgery.

The passing of Professor Nguyễn Đình Hối leaves a vast void within the hearts of many generations of Vietnamese physicians. Yet the values he left behind—from the hospital-school model and training system to the ethical ethos of medical practice—will continue to be inherited and developed.

To his students and colleagues, he was not simply a professor, but a great teacher, a symbol of intellect and character in Vietnamese medicine. That legacy will continue to be preserved as a guiding torch for the generations of doctors of today and tomorrow.

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