Three-way race looms as HKUST throws hat into med school ring

Eunice Lam

The University of Science and Technology has launched a medical education task force as part of its initiative to win the race to host the city's third medical school.

HKUST is among the three institutions - as well as Baptist and Polytechnic universities - to throw its hat into the ring.

Operating under the planning committee for the new medical school, which was established last year, the new task force is composed of veteran scholars and doctors with extensive experience in medical education planning and public healthcare, HKUST said yesterday.

It will concentrate on developing the curriculum for the new school, offering expert advice on global medical education trends, local social needs and the requirements of the Medical Council.

The task force includes both current and former medical school deans from the planning committee, with former Chinese University medical dean Fok Tai-fai and ex-University of Hong Kong medical dean Raymond Liang Hin-suen serving as co-chairs alongside Singaporean ophthalmologist Wong Tien-yin, the dean of Tsinghua Medical School.

The task force also draws on extensive experience from local public hospitals, featuring members such as Ho Hiu-Fai, former deputy chief executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital; So Hing-Yu, president of the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists at the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and Wong Yung-Hou, dean of cience at HKUST and former member of the Medical Council.

"The task force will support HKUST in developing a medical program that prepares students for local medical practice and future clinical challenges, with a patient-centered approach and the integration of cutting-edge technology and clinical medicine," the university said.