The costs for providing medical school education and services in Vietnam's universities continue to increase. Through a collaborative project between the Government of the Netherlands and Vietnam's Ministry of Health, a five year experimental program to develop in-country capacity and reduce the dependence upon a foreign medical service delivery model was initiated in 2007. A consortium of eight Vietnamese medical universities is participating in the project. The primary purpose is to design and strengthen the capacity of Vietnamese medical programs, personnel, and students in developing technical and pragmatic knowledge in several key medical and scientific categories that are currently directed by international consultants. The project intends to empower Vietnam's medical community to be self-reliant in the delivery of medical training and services to address the significant health needs of the country. To assist in the management and capacity building of the project across the eight medical universities, centres of excellence (COEs) have been proposed, encompassing five core constructs including health management, medical education, economic evaluation, medical research, and e-learning. This paper will address the design and development of two centres of excellence in e-learning. (Contains 1 figure.)