If you are managing a multi-specialty clinical network or planning to recruit international staff to Vietnam, you might wonder: are the licensing rules the same for all medical professions? While doctors, dentists, and nurses all operate under the broad umbrella of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, their specific educational criteria, required practice hours, and submission pathways can vary. Let’s compare these three major roles.
The Ministry of Health splits licensing criteria to match the technical complexity and clinical risks associated with each profession. While all roles must meet identical background and language guidelines under Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP, the state requires different levels of clinical practice verification and degree accreditation depending on the practitioner’s specific scope of practice.
Let’s look at how the requirements compare across several key aspects:
For multi-specialty medical centers, managing a diverse international roster requires a deep understanding of these professional variations. Human resource teams cannot utilize a one-size-fits-all timeline when hiring both foreign surgeons and foreign nurses. Recognizing that medical licenses for doctors and dentists often require longer clinical practice verification helps clinics avoid staffing gaps and maintains seamless compliance across all departments.