University of Hong Kong medical school launches 4-year graduate-entry track amid shortage of doctors
Hong Kong Free Press
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has launched a new track allowing graduate students to complete the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme in four years, citing a shortage of healthcare professionals in the city.
The HKU Faculty of Medicine announced on Monday that it would admit up to 25 students to the new graduate-entry programme, with the first cohort expected to begin their studies this September.
The fast-track programme is available to individuals who have an honours degree from a reputable university in Hong Kong or overseas. They must also meet HKU’s admission requirements in Chinese, English and science subjects, such as chemistry and biology.
Students of the four-year course will receive “intensive pre-clinical training” during the first year of their studies. They will then undergo “immersive clinical training” between their second and fourth year, which, according to HKU, will be the same kind of training offered to students in the six-year programme, which admits secondary school graduates.
The clinical training will take place in public and private hospitals in Hong Kong, as well as in cities around the Greater Bay Area, HKU said.
The faculty will host an information session next Wednesday.
Lau Chak-sing, dean of medicine at HKU, said in a statement on Monday that many top medical schools around the world had four-year graduate entry programmes. The faculty had drawn insights from the curriculum design and experiences of institutions abroad, he said.
Stepping up talent training in the medical sector has become a “pressing priority” as Hong Kong faces a shortage of healthcare professionals and the challenges of an ageing population, the professor said.
“This new programme opens a new pathway for aspiring medical professionals, while strengthening and diversifying the talent pool for the healthcare system and clinical research,” Lau said.
Medics shortage
Last year, the number of Hong Kong residents aged 65 or above surpassed 1.75 million, comprising around 23 per cent of the city’s population, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said last June that there were more than 16,400 doctors in the city – an average of only 2.6 doctors per 1,000 residents. The ratio was “far lower” than that of other advanced economies, the minister said.
The public and private sectors had a 50-50 share of doctors, but 90 per cent of in-patient services were provided by public hospitals and clinics, Lo said.
In December 2023, the Hospital Authority said that public hospitals faced high attrition rates of full-time doctors, especially those in the fields of anaesthesia and clinical oncology. The resignation rate of senior doctors was also higher than that of junior doctors, exerting further pressure on medical services.
Hong Kong has undertaken measures in recent years to tackle the manpower shortage in the medical sector, including relaxing rules for admitting overseas doctors to work in public hospitals. Authorities have also been holding job fairs in Australia and the UK to attract graduates to work in the city during the past few months.
The city introduced a “limited registration” policy in 2011, granting qualified overseas doctors a renewable three-year contract to allow them to practise in Hong Kong without taking a licensing exam.
In 2021, the government launched another new pathway for qualified doctors graduating from recognised overseas medical schools to be “specially registered” in Hong Kong, also without taking a licensing exam. Those who have worked in public hospitals as part of the new pathway for five years can then become fully registered, allowing them to enter private practise.
Hong Kong is set to have a third medical school, with the government reserving a site at the upcoming 30,000-hectare Northern Metropolis.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which proposed setting up the third medical school, said last month that it consulted the plan with Imperial College London and the University of California San Diego.
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