SAR's gates open to docs of 27 foreign institutes

No mainland medical university is among 27 overseas universities listed in the first batch of recognized medical qualifications approved for doctors applying to work in the SAR.

The list comes as the Legislative Council last year passed the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 which came into effect October 29, opening the city's doors to foreign-trained specialist doctors who are non-Hong Kong residents.

Foreign-trained Hong Kong doctors who possess medical qualifications from the list of recognized medical schools - after fulfilling certain criteria - can apply for special registration to practice with the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

They will be granted full registration to practice in the SAR after serving the institutions for five years and passing the assessment.

The list includes two Australian universities, three in Canada, six in the United Kingdom, 15 from the United States and one from Singapore.

Many are world-renowned universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Stanford, University of Toronto, University of Melbourne and National University of Singapore.

The list will be gazetted tomorrow and take effect on the same day. It will be submitted to Legco for negative vetting next Wednesday. The list was compiled by the Special Registration Committee under the Medical Council of Hong Kong, which was established last November. The committee is responsible for reviewing non-local medical schools' programs and determining whether their quality is comparable to that of the two local medical schools.

When putting together the list, the committee evaluated criteria including whether the medical qualification was of degree level or higher and if it was awarded by a body broadly comparable to any of those awarding local medical qualifications.

It also took into account whether the qualification was broadly comparable to those awarded by local universities in terms of curriculum, medium of instruction and any other relevant aspects.

The committee then submitted the list to the Registrar of Medical Practitioners for approval.

Medical graduates who have trained overseas and possess the recognized medical qualifications but have yet to take an internship outside Hong Kong may take the Licensing Examination of the Medical Council to apply for special registration to practice in the SAR's public healthcare institutions.

They may also obtain full registration after meeting the requirements applicable to all special registration doctors.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the list is timely in view of the current shortage of doctors in public healthcare.

"For students who intend to study medicine outside Hong Kong, they may refer to the list when making their choices for further studies," Chan said.

"The government will continue to enhance promotion on various registration pathways under the ordinance through the Economic and Trade Offices, including conducting webinars with Hong Kong doctors and medical students ... so as to encourage more qualified non-locally trained doctors to practice in Hong Kong."

Medical and health services sector lawmaker David Lam Tzit-yuen said the recognized institutions on the list are all top-notch schools with very high academic levels, but he's disappointed that mainland institutions such as Peking University were not included.

But Medical Association president Gabriel Choi Kin believes they will be added to the list later.