Ho Dac Di: The first Vietnamese surgeon and professor

Professor Ho Dac Di was the first Vietnamese physician to be authorized to practice surgery and the first Vietnamese person to hold the title of Professor in the medical field during the French colonial era. Born in 1900 in Thua Thien Hue, he studied medicine in France, graduating from the University of Paris and training at Tenon Hospital.

During his career, he developed a surgical method for treating pyloric stenosis caused by gastric-duodenal ulcers, a technique that was later recognized internationally and named after him. Upon returning to Vietnam in 1931, he worked in Hue and Quy Nhon before moving to Hanoi to teach at the Hanoi University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Ho Dac Di broke significant professional barriers by becoming the third surgeon permitted to practice in Indochina, the first being Vietnamese. In December 1943, he became the only Vietnamese person to hold a professorship at the time, marking a milestone for Vietnamese medical expertise and intellectual capability.