Pharmacy education in Vietnam during the 2015-2025

Pharmacy education plays a pivotal role in strengthening the healthcare workforce in Vietnam amid rapidly increasing healthcare demand. However, the expansion of training capacity over the past decade has raised significant challenges related to quality assurance and alignment with professional practice requirements.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive system-level analysis of the pharmacy education system in Vietnam during the 2015-2025 period, focusing on quality governance mechanisms and the implementation gap between policy design and practice.

A structured narrative review was conducted, synthesizing data from regulatory documents, accreditation databases of the Ministry of Education and Training, and relevant academic literature.

The findings indicate that the system has undergone significant reforms, including the establishment of minimum admission thresholds, the introduction of the Basic Competency Standards for Pharmacists (2019), and the expansion of program accreditation. However, an implementation gap persists, reflected in the proportion of unaccredited programs (48%) and uneven implementation across institutions, suggesting disparities in institutional capacity.

Pharmacy education in Vietnam is transitioning from a model focused on expansion to one oriented toward quality enhancement. However, current challenges are systemic rather than isolated, requiring coordinated and integrated reforms. For sustainable development, strategic priorities should include institutionalizing mandatory accreditation through a phased roadmap linked to enrollment regulation, and strengthening the alignment between the 2019 Pharmacist Competency Standards, curriculum design, and accreditation mechanisms. Such integration is essential to enhance the consistency, transparency, and comparability of training quality in the context of regional integration.