INTRODUCTION: Medical education in many countries includes periods that students spend in the community. In Vietnam, a move towards more community-oriented teaching has increased the need for rural community-based education for medical students during recent years. At the same time, new policies and social changes have created difficulties for community-based education. The eight main medical schools have worked together since 1999 to improve their curriculum, including sharing and adopting new approaches in their field teaching programs. Objective: To establish more systematic, integrated and participatory field teaching in rural communities in the curricula of eight medical schools, based on community-university partnerships. METHODS: Eight medical schools together analyzed their field teaching programs and identified issues still needing attention. A pilot intervention explored how to involve community and local health staff actively in field teaching programs. From the results of the workshop and the pilot intervention, plans were made for sets of activities to improve weaknesses. Feedback and evaluation surveys among local health staff and students who participated in field training were performed after 3 years' intervention, to check the appropriateness of the field teaching programs and methods. RESULTS: All eight schools had made improvements in selected aspects of their community-based education programs. There was still considerable variation in the programs but all were more systematic and better integrated into the revised curriculum. Stakeholders' concerns and interests related to field teaching were analyzed and taken into consideration when they were involved in field teaching. The community-university partnership has become a key element for field teaching in these medical schools. CONCLUSION: In the new social context of Vietnam, along with more community-based education periods, more active participation of all stakeholders is increasingly necessary to work towards more effective community-oriented training in Vietnamese medical schools.
