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Modern medical education in Hong Kong started in 1887 with the founding of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. Currently, two universities provide MBBS degree for doctors and six universities provide undergraduate degrees in other subjects of health sciences.
The Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (Chinese :香港華人西醫書院) was founded in 1887 by the London Missionary Society, with its first graduate (in 1892) being Sun Yat-sen. Sun following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which changed China from an empire to a republic, became president of China. The Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese was the forerunner of the School of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, which started in 1911.
The intakes of various healthcare related Bachelor's programmes in Hong Kong are limited.
Hong Kong has only two comprehensive medical faculties, the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong and the Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and they are also the sole two institutes offering pharmacy and six-year medical programmes. Both universities' medical programmes are composed of two parts, two to three years of pre-clinical studies (duration depends on whether the student is a high school graduate or a degree holder pursuing for another degree), and three years of clinical years. Throughout the three years of clinical clerkship, students are rotated in general medicine, surgery, and other specialties. In order to better address Hong Kong's healthcare needs, there have been calls for the creation of a third medical school in Hong Kong. [17]
Other healthcare discipline programmes are dispersed among other universities which do not host a medical faculty.
Various postgraduate courses in different fields of healthcare or biomedical sciences are also provided by those institutes.
In addition to Bachelor program, some education bodies, public hospitals and private hospitals were acknowledged as registered nurse/ enrolled nurse training schools by The Nursing Council of Hong Kong to provide higher diploma programmes or professional diploma programmes, in order to increase manpower of Enrolled Nurses and Registered Nurses in the industry. [18] [19]
| Institute | Organisation | Programmes Provided
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Mary Hospital | ||||
| Queen Elizabeth Hospital | School of Nursing | |||
| Princess Margaret Hospital | ||||
| Prince of Wales Hospital | ||||
| Caritas Medical Centre | School of Nursing | |||
| Kwong Wah Hospital | ||||
| United Christian Hospital | ||||
| Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital | School of Nursing | |||
| Tuen Mun Hospital | School of General Nursing | |||
| Yan Chai Hospital | ||||
| HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education, the University of Hong Kong | The College of Life Sciences and Technology | |||
| HKU SPACE Community College, the University of Hong Kong | ||||
| St. Teresa’s Hospital | School of Nursing | |||
| Union Hospital | School of Nursing | |||
| Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital | ||||
| Hongkong Adventist Hospital and Tsuen Wan Adventist Hospital | Hongkong Adventist School of Nursing | |||
| Hong Kong Baptist Hospital | The School of Nursing | |||
| The Grantham Hospital | ||||
| Haven of Hope Hospital | ||||
| Tung Wah Eastern Hospital | ||||
| Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital | ||||
| Kowloon Hospital |
To be registered as medical practitioners, medical graduates must successfully undertake and complete at least one year of supervised practice, generally known as an internship, with satisfactory performance. The internship is undertaken in hospital positions accredited for this purpose.
During this year interns (house officers) are rotated to four specialties (medicine and surgery plus two of obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics and traumatology, emergency medicine, psychiatry or ophthalmology). Each of them lasts three months. There is no work hour limit in Hong Kong and interns are expected to work 80–100 hours per week.
Prior to the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, medical degrees from HKU and CUHK were eligible for full registration with the General Medical Council in the UK. However, reciprocality for UK or Commonwealth medical graduates has since been abolished. In order to become a fully registered medical practitioner in Hong Kong, all non-local medial graduates are required to attain a medical license (LMCHK) from the Medical Council of Hong Kong. The rigorous process includes passing a 3-part licentiate examination (HKMLE). In 2017, the Licentiate Society, an independent, non-profit entity, formed to represent the LMCHK and to help meet their professional needs. [20] Medical graduates from HKU and CUHK are exempted from taking the HKMLE. [21]
After successful completion of medical school, graduates are awarded a provisional registration for their internship year (i.e. the first year of residency). Internship is guaranteed for HKU and CUHK medical graduates and for non-local graduates that have passed the Licentiate Examination. Upon successful completion of the intern year (PGY1), medical graduates are awarded a full registration, and can practice as general practitioners in either the public or private sector. Many, however, choose to pursue specialist training within the Hospital Authority, and enter into a four to six year program, after which they will have attained a specialist registration. Unlike those in the UK or North America, numerous residency programs in Hong Kong remain unfilled after the annual match process, with up to fifty unfilled training posts every year.
Specialist training is only offered at hospitals under the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong. A trainee has to undergo one year of pre-registration internship and four to six years of supervised specialist training and pass in the exit examination or assessment held by Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, which is a statutory body tasked to organise, monitor, assess and accredit all medical and dental specialist trainings in Hong Kong to uphold high professional standard of medical / dental specialists.
Passing the exit examination or assessment is a prerequisite to Fellowship of the Academy. The examinations are all conjoint with the British and Australian royal colleges, e.g. Royal College of Physicians, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. For example, a Hong Kong trained general surgeon in Hong Kong will be eligible for FCSHK, FHKAM (General Surgery), FRCS (General Surgery) and FRCS (Edinburgh) while a radiologist will expect to obtain FHKCR, FHKAM (Radiology) and FRCR at the end of their fellowship training. The FHKAM examination focuses on local pathology and also incorporates other components, e.g. logbook evaluation, literature appraisal, teaching, research and annual viva voce that are not included by the Royal College examinations. The pass rate of the FHKAM is similar to that of the Royal College exams, at around 20-60% depending on specialty.
Under the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, there are 15 colleges offering 73 specialties: [22]
| Colleges [23] | Speciality [22] [24] | Years of training |
|---|---|---|
| The Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists | Anaesthesiology | 6 years |
| Intensive Care Medicine | 6 years | |
| Pain Medicine | 6 years | |
| Hong Kong College of Community Medicine | Community Medicine | |
| Administrative Medicine | 6 years | |
| Public Health Medicine | 6 years | |
| Occupational and Environmental Medicine | 6 years | |
| The College of Dental Surgeons of Hong Kong | Community Dentistry | 6+ years |
| Endodontics | ||
| Family Dentistry | ||
| Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery | ||
| Orthodontics | ||
| Paediatric Dentistry | ||
| Periodontology | ||
| Prosthodontics | ||
| Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine | Clinical Toxicology | |
| Emergency Medicine | 6 years | |
| The Hong Kong College of Family Physicians | Family Medicine | 6 years |
| The Hong Kong College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists | Obstetrics and Gynaecology | 6 years |
| Gynaecological Oncology | ||
| Maternal and Fetal Medicine | ||
| Reproductive Medicine | ||
| Urogynaecology | ||
| The College of Ophthalmologists of Hong Kong | Ophthalmology | 6 years |
| The Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons | Orthopaedics and Traumatology | 6 years |
| Rehabilitation | ||
| The Hong Kong College of Otorhinolaryngologists | Otorhinolaryngology | 6 years |
| Hong Kong College of Paediatricians | Paediatrics | 6 years |
| Developmental–Behavioural Paediatrics | ||
| Genetics and Genomics (Paediatrics) | ||
| Paediatric Endocrinology | ||
| Paediatric Immunology, Allergy and Infectious Diseases | ||
| Paediatric Neurology | ||
| Paediatric Respiratory Medicine | ||
| Paediatric Haematology and Oncology | ||
| The Hong Kong College of Pathologists | Pathology | 6 years |
| Hong Kong College of Physicians | Anatomical Pathology | |
| Chemical Pathology | ||
| Forensic Pathology | ||
| Genetic and Genomic Pathology | ||
| Haematology | ||
| Immunology | ||
| Clinical Microbiology and Infection | ||
| Cardiology | ||
| Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics | ||
| Critical Care Medicine | ||
| Dermatology and Venereology | ||
| Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism | ||
| Gastroenterology and Hepatology | ||
| Genetics and Genomics (Medicine) | ||
| Geriatric Medicine | ||
| Haematology and Haematological Oncology | ||
| Immunology and Allergy | ||
| Infectious Disease | ||
| Internal Medicine | ||
| Medical Oncology | ||
| Nephrology | ||
| Neurology | ||
| Palliative Medicine | ||
| Respiratory Medicine | ||
| Rheumatology | ||
| The Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists | Psychiatry | 6 years |
| Hong Kong College of Radiologists | Radiology | 6 years |
| Interventional Radiology | ||
| Clinical Oncology | 6 years | |
| Nuclear Medicine | 6 years | |
| The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong | Cardio-thoracic Surgery | |
| General Surgery | ||
| Neurosurgery | ||
| Paediatric Surgery | ||
| Plastic Surgery | ||
| Urology | ||
| Vascular Surgery |
Promotion to a further post, e.g. Associate Consultant, often depends on availability of posts: it is primarily dependent on whether a senior consultant has left for private practice, leaving a vacancy. The salary cap, at the resident level (i.e. Medical Officer), is currently limited to $152,356 HKD per month (at 2016/17 levels). This is exclusive of a 5% housing allowance, and up to 15% gratuity annually, to be released every three years. This has generated an exodus of specialists from the HA to the private sector, and the HA has responded by pledging to promote all specialists to Associate Consultants within 5 years of obtaining specialist qualification. However, this is not a permanent policy and is subject to the government budget. Before the new policy, it was not unusual to see public doctors remaining as 'Medical Officers' more than 10 years after obtaining their specialist qualifications. (1)
Family medicine is recognized as a major specialty in Hong Kong. Specialists in family medicine have undertaken at least six years of accredited training, and earned internationally renowned postgraduate medical qualifications as well as Fellowship of The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine just as their counterparts in hospital medicine or other medical fields.
A registered practitioner who wishes to have his/her name included in the Specialist Register of the Medical Council of Hong Kong is required to satisfy the continuing medical education (CME) requirements as stipulated by the Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap 161).
The objective of the CME is to
The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine requires each specialist to attain a minimum CME requirement of 90 points in a 3-year cycle. A point is equivalent to 1 hour of participation in CME activities. To encourage active learning elements and a balanced mix of different activities, the Academy limits the passive CME points (i.e. points obtained through attending lectures or talks) to 75 points maximum per cycle. Each college of the Academy may recommend additional requirements. [25]
The Medical Council of Hong Kong has also implemented a CME programme for practising doctors who are not taking CME for specialists. Enrolment to the programme is on a voluntary basis. The purpose of the programme is to encourage practising doctors to keep themselves up-to-date on current developments in medical practice so as to maintain a high professional standard.
Practising doctors who have accumulated the required minimum credit points per year, i.e. 30 credit points, will be awarded a certificate to certify that they have achieved a satisfactory level of CME activity during a particular period. Such a certificate can be displayed inside the doctor's office. In addition, those practising doctors who have accumulated the required minimum credit points during a three-year cycle, i.e. 90 credit points, will be allowed to use the title "CME certified" on their visiting cards. [26]
The two medical schools in Hong Kong do not offer such programs and postgraduates have to undergo the same programme as high school graduates. Despite that, postgraduates are increasing in number in local medical schools, now amounting to one fourth of the entire student population. However, graduate entry students may be permitted to enter into the second year of medical school based on their previous major.
| Rank | HA General Pay Scale Point |
|---|---|
| Intern | 16 |
| Resident | 30-44B |
| Resident Specialist | |
| Associate Consultant | 45-49 |
| Consultant | 50-53A |
A general practitioner (GP) or family physician is a doctor who is a consultant in general practice.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of Hong Kong in 1911. It is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong.
A Doctor of Medicine is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree of physician. This generally arose because many in 18th-century medical professions trained in Scotland, which used the M.D. degree nomenclature. In England, however, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) was used: in the 19th century, it became the standard in Scotland too. Thus, in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries, the M.D. is a research doctorate, honorary doctorate or applied clinical degree restricted to those who already hold a professional degree (Bachelor's/Master's/Doctoral) in medicine. In those countries, the equivalent professional degree to the North American, and some others' usage of M.D. is still typically titled Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Master of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine (MD), or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). Many medical schools offer additional degrees, such as a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), master's degree (MSc) or other post-secondary education.
A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradition. Despite the historical distinction in nomenclature, these degrees are typically combined and conferred together. This degree is usually awarded as an undergraduate degree, but it can also be awarded at graduate-level medical institutions. The typical duration for completion is five to six years.
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A Bachelor of Pharmacy is a graduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. In many countries, this degree is a prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist. Since both PharmB and PharmD are prerequisites to a license in most Western countries, they are considered equivalent. In many Western countries, foreign graduates with BPharm, PharmB, or BS Pharm practice similarly to PharmD graduates. It is analogous to an MBBS vs. an MD, where MBBS is the foreign equivalent of an MD. The degree provides training to understand the properties and impacts of medicines and develop the skills required to counsel patients about their use.
Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (Dip.Engg.)and (B.Engg.) or (M.Engg.), and any advanced education and specializations that follow. Engineering education is typically accompanied by additional postgraduate examinations and supervised training as the requirements for a professional engineering license. The length of education, and training to qualify as a basic professional engineer, is typically five years, with 15–20 years for an engineer who takes responsibility for major projects.
In Canada, a medical school is a faculty or school of a university that trains future medical doctors and usually offers a three- to five-year Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degree. There are currently 17 medical schools in Canada with an annual admission success rate normally below 7.5%. As of 2021, approximately 11,500 students were enrolled in Canadian medical schools graduating 2,900 students per year.
A clinical officer (CO) is a gazetted officer who is qualified and licensed to practice medicine.
Physical therapy education varies greatly from country to country. Worldwide, physical therapy training ranges from basic work site education in hospitals and outpatient clinics to professional doctoral degree and masters programs.
The Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, branded as CU Medicine, is the medical school of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a public research university. Established in 1981 as Hong Kong's second medical school, the faculty consists of five schools offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including in the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and traditional Chinese medicine. The Prince of Wales Hospital is the faculty's teaching facility and base of research. CUHK is a bilingual university; in general, courses are taught in English and/or Chinese.
The HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), a public research university. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, one of the oldest western medical schools in the Asia–Pacific region, and which served as the base for HKU's founding in 1910.
David Todd was a Hong Kong haematologist, the founding president of the Hong Kong College of Physicians and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. He was best known for transforming medical education and training in Hong Kong.
Licentiate of the Medical Council of Hong Kong (LMCHK) is a medical license issued by the Medical Council of Hong Kong to doctors that have graduated from medical schools outside of Hong Kong and have met the requirements for such licensure in Hong Kong. The Medical Council of Hong Kong requires that these non-locally graduated doctors display the LMCHK qualification as a post-nominal title first, before listing any other quotable qualifications, such as MD or MBBS. The LMCHK are represented by the Licentiate Society, an independent, non-profit organization.
The Hong Kong Medical Licensing Examination (HKMLE) is a required assessment for doctors that graduated from medical schools outside of Hong Kong and forms part of the pathway to medical licensure in Hong Kong. The HKMLE is stipulated by the Medical Registration Ordinance. The HKMLE is held twice per year. The HKMLE is occasionally referred to by its official name the Licensing Examination of the Medical Council of Hong Kong. Candidates for the HKMLE are supported by an independent, non-profit professional body, known as the Licentiate Society. Graduates of local medical schools in Hong Kong, i.e., HKU and CUHK, are currently exempt from the HKMLE.
The Association of Licentiates of Medical Council of Hong Kong (ALMCHK) is an independent, non-profit, professional medical organisation established in 1995 representing the licentiate doctors in Hong Kong. It is the first of its kind designated for all non-local graduated licentiate doctors in Hong Kong. Membership are designated to registered doctors in Hong Kong who obtained LMCHK. The primary objective is to safeguard the welfare and rights of licentiates doctors. It is also one the few CME programme providers accredited by the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK).
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