HK's third medical school on horizon

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is seeking to establish a third medical school in the city, says lawmaker Edward Leung Hei.

After meeting with HKUST president Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, Leung said the tertiary institute plans to build a medical school that can nurture 200 doctors a year.

It will initially enroll 50 students in two to three years.

Leung, writing on Facebook yesterday, said he was happy to hear that the university's 3.0 vision is to establish a third medical school in the city, following the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University.

HKUST will also allow students who own a nonmedical degree to study medicine.

"I believe this can create an attractive career path for youngsters who did not study medicine in university but wish to change their jobs to become doctors," Leung said.

"I also believe HKUST will be stringent in gate-keeping, to ensure that their medical students meet all requirements for registration in Hong Kong and their standard of practice."

However, Leung said the university requires Hong Kong's support in setting up the school as it faces challenges, including a shortage in professors, inadequate space for teaching and student dormitories, and the need for a professional accreditation. He said the university has been seeking more resources to establish a university-owned innovation technology park and a dormitory, adding it has submitted a proposal to the administration to provide 12 hectares of land to enhance its competitiveness.

Lawmaker, Bill Tang Ka-piu, who met with the HKUST management, said on Facebook that the innovation technology park will be built on three sites - one in the green belt in Clear Water Bay and the other two at Lohas Park.

Meanwhile, former Medical Association president Gabriel Choi Kin held dim hope that the university would be able to set up the third medical school in the short term.

"It will require a lot of equipment, autopsy facilities as well as laboratories and tutors to do so," he said, adding that it takes years just for preparation alone.

He said HKUST's medical program will need to go through the Medical Council and the Department of Health assessments, before their graduates can be waived from a licensing examination.

Currently, all medical graduates who wish to register in Hong Kong, except those from HKU and CUHK, are required to pass the exam and successfully complete a period of preregistration internship training and assessment in approved hospitals or institutions.

Meanwhile, medical graduates from 100 overseas and mainland institutes can apply for special registration to practice in local public health-care institutions, and obtain full registration after working for five years, without having to take the licensing exam.

Rumors circulated online in April that HKUST would start a medical school, but the institution sidestepped the issue, saying it has been exploring different possibilities.