Concerns about attracting good doctors to the border region

Many young doctors seek other paths

In 2020, holding a graduation certificate from Hanoi Medical University, young female doctor B.T. T decided to return to her hometown, choosing Lang Son Provincial General Hospital as a stopover. Her luggage on the day of return is the aspiration to contribute, bringing modern medical knowledge to treat people.

However, by mid-2025, the young female doctor sadly wrote a resignation letter, leaving her hometown to return to Hanoi to find another turning point.

Regarding income, the female doctor frankly acknowledged that the salary at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is currently nearly double that of other departments, this level is also considered stable compared to the general level in Lang Son. However, Dr. T confided: "The specific nature of working in the ICU is that the time pressure is extremely high. Regulations stipulate working 8 hours a day, but in reality, it is always necessary to work overtime to finish work. Every week, 2 shifts, each shift lasts 24 hours continuously.

Doctor T said that after leaving the public hospital, she is currently focusing on learning more in-depth certificates, and working at a private clinic to ensure her life.

The story of female doctor B.T. T is not isolated. At Lang Son Provincial General Hospital, the battle to retain talent is taking place extremely fiercely.

The hospital once made great efforts to attract 2 doctors with postgraduate degrees to the border region to contribute. However, after only a short time of attachment, both of these high-quality personnel applied for resignation.

They are even willing to raise money to refund the initial attraction support funds of the province and the hospital, determined to switch to working at private medical facilities.

Efforts to retain talent

Talking about this situation, Specialist Doctor (BSCK) II Dang Huy Du - Deputy Director of Lang Son Provincial General Hospital - admitted the difficulties in attracting talent.

According to information from the unit, Lang Son Provincial General Hospital currently has a personnel scale of 842 officials and employees. The core force directly examining and treating patients is 189 doctors.

In which, high-quality human resources account for a large proportion with more than 50% reaching postgraduate level, including: 19 BSCK II, 73 BSCK I, 8 Masters of Medicine and 1 Resident Doctor.

Also according to Mr. Du, as a hospital implementing financial autonomy based in mountainous areas, patients are mainly ethnic minorities and the poor, the hospital's revenue depends heavily on health insurance with limited norms.

Therefore, the leadership always understands the hardships of doctors and always tries to create the best working environment.

Along with that, to attract and retain high-quality medical personnel to the provincial level, the hospital has applied maximum preferential treatment mechanisms within its capabilities.

For civil servants, public employees, and employees with resident doctor, master, specialist level I qualifications to work, they will receive an initial support level of 150 million VND/person. For doctoral level, specialist level II, the support level is up to 250 - 350 million VND/person.

Also according to assessments, although there are people who choose to leave, the personnel picture here with efforts to treat and a humane working environment has been and is retaining a very solid core force.

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