Medical Practice Licensing in Vietnam

Vietnam's medical-practice licensing regime was fundamentally reset by the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 15/2023/QH15, passed by the 15th National Assembly on 9 January 2023 and effective 1 January 2024. The new law replaced the 15-year-old Law 40/2009/QH12 and introduced — for the first time — five-year licence validity, a national capacity examination, mandatory continuing medical education (CME), expanded practitioner categories, and a phased deferral of the Vietnamese-language requirement for foreign professionals to 1 January 2032. The implementing framework consists of Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP and Circular 32/2023/TT-BYT, both effective on the same date as the law.

Scope of this page:

• The Chứng chỉ hành nghề khám bệnh, chữa bệnh (CCHN KCB) — what it is, who needs it, validity.
• The nine recognised practitioner titles under Law 15/2023, including three new categories (clinical nutritionist, pre-hospital emergency responder, clinical psychologist).
• Issuing authority split between Bộ Y tế and Sở Y tế.
• The 12-month provisional practice (thực hành) requirement and the National Medical Council capacity examination.
• Continuing medical education — 120 credit-hours over 5 years.
• Foreign practitioner conditions, language requirements, and the 2032 transition.
• Practice scope and the linkage to facility licensing.
• Sanctions for practice without licence or beyond scope.

What CCHN KCB is and who needs it: The CCHN KCB is the natural-person professional licence required for any individual who practises medical examination and treatment (khám bệnh, chữa bệnh) in Vietnam in any of the nine recognised professional titles. The licence specifies the title (chức danh), the scope of practice (phạm vi hành nghề) and the holder's registered specialty. Under Law 15/2023, the CCHN KCB is valid for five years — a sharp departure from the open-ended licence under the 2009 law — and renewal requires evidence of CME completion.

Note that this regime is separate from the Chứng chỉ hành nghề dược (CCHND) under the Pharmacy Law 105/2016/QH13, which covers pharmacy practice and is administered through a different procedure. Pharmacists, while healthcare professionals, are not covered by Law 15/2023; see the Medibase Distribution & Retail page for the CCHND regime.

The nine practitioner titles under Law 15/2023: 1. Bác sỹ (doctor — the only title authorised to make a definitive medical diagnosis and prescribe). 2. Y sỹ (assistant doctor; sub-doctor level). 3. Điều dưỡng (nurse). 4. Hộ sinh (midwife). 5. Kỹ thuật y (medical technician — covering radiology, laboratory, rehabilitation and others). 6. Dinh dưỡng lâm sàng (clinical nutritionist) — new in 2023. 7. Cấp cứu viên ngoại viện (pre-hospital emergency responder) — new in 2023. 8. Tâm lý lâm sàng (clinical psychologist) — new in 2023. 9. Lương y and người có bài thuốc gia truyền / phương pháp chữa bệnh gia truyền (traditional medicine practitioners and holders of family-tradition prescriptions or methods) — subject to a partially separate sub-regime aligned with the Traditional Medicine framework.

Issuing authority:

• Bộ Y tế, acting through Cục Quản lý Khám, Chữa bệnh, issues CCHN KCB for practitioners working at facilities under the Ministry's direct management, foreign practitioners, and certain other categories specified in Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP.
• Sở Y tế cấp tỉnh issues CCHN KCB for all other practitioners in their province — the majority pathway by volume.
• The Ministries of Defence and Public Security operate their own healthcare-licensing systems for personnel in military and police medical services.

Provisional practice (thực hành): A defining feature of the 2023 reform is the rationalised provisional-practice period — the supervised practice an applicant must complete before being eligible for an independent CCHN KCB. The 2009 law required 18 months for doctors; Decree 96/2023 cuts this to:

• 12 months for doctors (9 months in the primary specialty + 3 months in emergency care).
• 9 months for y sỹ (assistant doctors).
• 6–9 months for nurses, midwives and medical technicians, depending on the specialty. Provisional practice must be completed at a licensed CCHN KCB facility under the supervision of a senior practitioner in the same specialty.

National Medical Council capacity examination: Law 15/2023 establishes the Hội đồng Y khoa Quốc gia (National Medical Council) as an independent professional body charged with administering a national capacity examination for doctors and certain other practitioner categories. The examination is to be phased in: passing the capacity examination is the route to CCHN KCB for new applicants once the examination system is operational, replacing the dossier-only pathway used under the 2009 law. A consequential renaming via Law 112/2025/QH15 (effective 1 March 2026) updated terminology in this area; the examination roll-out is staged through the transitional roadmap in Decree 96/2023.

Continuing medical education (CME): Circular 32/2023/TT-BYT requires every CCHN KCB holder to complete at least 120 credit-hours of CME over each five-year licence period. CME is delivered by accredited institutions and certified at completion; the certificate is a precondition for licence renewal. Specific allocations of CME hours to clinical specialties, ethics, infection control and digital-health competencies are set in TT 32/2023 Annexes.

Foreign healthcare professionals:

• Foreign practitioners may obtain CCHN KCB through (i) recognition of an equivalent foreign credential under Article 29 of the Law, or (ii) passing the National Medical Council capacity examination.
• Vietnamese-language requirement: every foreign practitioner must reach fluency in Vietnamese for direct patient communication. Hard enforcement of this requirement has been deferred to 1 January 2032 to allow time for transition, with interpreters permitted during the transition; practitioners may use a "registered specialised language" where the patient speaks the same language.
• Foreign practitioners typically practise at foreign-invested or international hospitals and clinics; Bộ Y tế is the issuing authority.

Practice scope and linkage to facility licensing: CCHN KCB is granted within a defined scope of practice (phạm vi hành nghề), which determines what medical activities the holder may perform. The facility at which the holder practises must hold a valid facility operating licence (giấy phép hoạt động khám bệnh, chữa bệnh) for the corresponding scope — see the Medibase Healthcare Facility Licensing page. Practising outside the scope of the CCHN KCB or at an unlicensed facility is a sanctionable breach.

Sanctions:

• Administrative — Decree 117/2020/NĐ-CP, as amended by Decree 124/2021/NĐ-CP, covers practice without licence, practice beyond scope, breach of professional ethics, and related healthcare-sector violations. Penalties range from warnings and fines to suspension or revocation of the CCHN KCB.
• Criminal — Article 315 of the Penal Code 2015 (as amended by Law 12/2017/QH14) — "Tội vi phạm quy định về khám bệnh, chữa bệnh, sản xuất, pha chế thuốc, cấp phát thuốc, bán thuốc hoặc dịch vụ y tế khác" — carries imprisonment from 1 to 5 years, up to 15 years for aggravated outcomes including patient death.

Foundational law:

• Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 15/2023/QH15 — passed 9 January 2023, effective 1 January 2024. Replaces Law 40/2009/QH12. Twelve chapters, 121 articles.
• Law 112/2025/QH15 — consequential terminological update effective 1 March 2026.

Implementing decree:

• Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP — issued 30 December 2023, effective 1 January 2024. Comprehensive implementing decree covering practitioner licensing, facility operating licences, new techniques and clinical trials at facilities, medical-equipment management, emergency mobilisation, and the transitional roadmap.

Implementing circulars:

• Circular 32/2023/TT-BYT — issued 31 December 2023, effective 1 January 2024. Master implementing circular covering scope of practice, application dossier, and the 120-credit-hour CME requirement over 5 years.
• Circular 27/2023/TT-BYT — village health workers and village midwives.
• Circular 28/2023/TT-BYT — scope of practice for medical staff at agencies and units not constituting a licensed facility.

Sanctions:

• Decree 117/2020/NĐ-CP, as amended by Decree 124/2021/NĐ-CP — administrative penalties in the healthcare field; covers practice without licence and practice beyond scope.
• Penal Code 2015 Article 315 — criminal liability for medical-practice violations, with imprisonment up to 15 years for aggravated outcomes.

Law:

• Law 15/2023/QH15 — https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=207396
• Consolidated Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (VBHN 26/VBHN-VPQH, 2026) — https://datafiles.chinhphu.vn/cpp/files/vbpq/2026/3/26-vbhn-vpqh.pdf

Decree:

• Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP — https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=209491

Circulars:

• Circular 32/2023/TT-BYT (master) — https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/the-thao-y-te/circular-32-2023-tt-byt-elaboration-of-the-law-on-medical-examination-and-treatment-595654.aspx
• Circular 27/2023/TT-BYT (village workers) — see thuvienphapluat.vn search.
• Circular 28/2023/TT-BYT (non-facility staff scope) — see thuvienphapluat.vn search.

Sanctions:

• Decree 117/2020/NĐ-CP — https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=201105

Operational portal:

• Bộ Y tế — Cục Quản lý KCB portal — https://kcb.vn

Medibase cross-references:

• Reference — Healthcare Facility Licensing — /practice/facility-licensing/
• Reference — Telemedicine — /practice/telemedicine/
• Reference — Distribution & Retail (CCHND pharmacy practice) — /medicine/distribution-retail/
• Reference — Traditional Medicine (lương y and family-tradition prescriptions) — /medicine/traditional-medicine/

9 January 2023 — National Assembly passes Law 15/2023/QH15 on Medical Examination and Treatment.

30 December 2023 — Government issues Decree 96/2023/NĐ-CP.

31 December 2023 — Ministry of Health issues Circular 32/2023/TT-BYT (master); plus Circulars 27/2023, 28/2023, 30/2023 on related topics.

1 January 2024 — Law 15/2023, Decree 96/2023, and Circular 32/2023 enter into force simultaneously. The CCHN KCB becomes a 5-year licence with mandatory CME for renewal.

1 March 2026 — Law 112/2025/QH15 consequential terminology update enters into force.

1 January 2032 — Hard enforcement of the Vietnamese-language requirement for foreign healthcare professionals.