The Hydration and Exercise team presented their AUN-level project in Thailand on December 12, 2019. 

Among them, three outstanding projects were awarded: Hydration and Exercise (first prize), Stress Garden (second prize), and My Body, My Choice (third prize).

Practical Ideas

The Student health promotion activities competition is part of the activities of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) Health Promotion Network (AUN-Health Promotion Network). Established in 2014, AUN-HPN aims to bolster the health of the ASEAN community, initially focusing on promoting health activities at member universities. Vietnam’s official members of AUN-HPN are VNUHCM and VNU Hanoi. The VNUHCM School of Medicine and the VNU Hanoi School of Medicine and Pharmacy have been designated as representatives to participate in AUN-HPN.

During the 6 months of participating in the competition, the teams showed their enthusiasm for the project that they jointly implemented. “We spent a long time searching and selecting ideas to develop our project. After surveying students, our team realized that most were not aware of the importance of proper hydration and physical exercise. That’s why Hydration and Exercise was born to contribute to building a healthy lifestyle for students,” shared Phạm Thị Ngân Khánh, a member of the Hydration and Exercise team.

Hydration and Exercise organized communication activities, workshops, exercise sessions, and runs combined with health index measurements for hundreds of students from School of Medicine and other VNUHCM member universities.

Nguyễn Thị Bích Ngọc, a member of the Stress Garden team, was particularly fond of their project idea due to its relevance to human life. “Nowadays, young people face many pressures and are prone to stress. After researching and learning that gardening therapy – connecting the environment with the human soul – can help reduce stress, we decided to develop this project.” Ngọc added that this psychological treatment model has been widely applied in developed countries like the USA and Japan.

Stress Garden organized gardening sessions at the Anatomy Practice Area of the School of Medicine, attracting many students, mainly from the Pharmacy Department. The team also presented a report at the 2nd Scientific Conference of the School of Medicine, VNUHCM, held on November 14. This project was highly regarded by member schools of the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation for its creativity and practicality.

The My Body, My Choice team implemented a project to promote safe sex and contraception among students. “You can take proactive steps to protect your reproductive health without suffering regrettable consequences due to a lack of knowledge,” said Võ Thị Trâm Anh, a senior student at the School of Medicine, VNUHCM, and a member of the My Body, My Choice team.

My Body, My Choice organized two workshops for first-year students of the School of Medicine and students at the Halls of Residence A of VNUHCM. Additionally, the group created several social media channels. The team’s online and offline communication models continue as an annual activity of School of Medicine at the VNUHCM level.

Numerous Excellent Projects

Nine projects were proposed and defended by student teams from the School of Medicine in round one. These projects, focusing on practical issues within the medical student community and VNUHCM at large, were highly regarded by the organizing committee, far exceeding initial expectations. Leveraging social media advantages, the Hydration and Exercise team created the AUN Hydration and Exercise Project fanpage to post medical articles on drinking water and exercise. Meanwhile, the My Choice, Dr. Hoa Mi Confession 16+ page of My Body team served as a confidential space for young people to share their feelings and inquiries, with the motto that “Only you have the right to choose, for the safety of yourself and the community.”

Based on evaluation criteria such as practicality, attractiveness, and scientific validity, the contest organizers faced a challenging decision in selecting three projects for the finals. Ultimately, the victory went to the Hydration and Exercise team.

MSc Le Quang Huy – Permanent representative of the AUN-HPN project, commented: “The most important aspect is that the contest has created a playground for students to apply academic knowledge in practice. They have improved day by day and developed in many aspects, from professional skills and foreign language proficiency to executing a professional project.”

Mr. Huy further mentioned that in the future, projects with potential would be considered for dissemination to the student community in the halls of residence and expanded within VNUHCM member institutions.