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Clarence Tsui

and RUTH MATHEWSON MEDICAL students should face one more examination before being allowed to practise, the doctors' regulatory body said yesterday.

  The Medical Association said the licentiate examination should be taken by anybody seeking to register to practise medicine in Hong Kong, including university medical graduates.

  The association demanded the proposal be included in the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 1995.

  The bill now states that students completing their degrees in Hong Kong and other Commonwealth countries are exempt from the exam.

   The Dean of Medicine at the Chinese University, Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, said the association's idea was 'ridiculous'.

  'I know of no other place in the world where local graduates have to sit a licentiate exam,' Professor Li said.

 Medical graduates would find themselves in the odd position of being automatically accepted to practise in Britain, but not in their home territory.

 He said the examination, which would be organised and supervised by university lecturers, would be a waste of time.

  Albert Wong Chak-ming, chairman of the Medical Society of the Chinese University, was angry about the proposal.

  'This not only shows a lack of confidence in our faculty, which offers us examinations, but also is unfair to graduates,' said the second-year medical student.

  'Students have to study hard to pass many tests before graduation. But now they say these graduates are not qualified and have to take another exam.'   Association spokesman Dr So Kai-ming said applying the licentiate exam universally would simply be to follow the lead of other Western countries.

  'It's to ensure openness and fairness to all medical graduates. If you are providing privileges to local medical graduates, we may be open to criticism from overseas graduates,' Dr So said.

  'In the United States and Canada, if you are a medical graduate you are not assured of practising rights; you have to take your licensing exams. We are setting a standard which ensures only qualified people practise in Hong Kong.'   Professor Li said the motive of the association was to avoid recognising medical graduates from China.

  He said that by abolishing all exemptions, the association could avoid having to exempt mainland graduates as well.

  'It was all right for them to do it for the protection of local doctors' interests, but now even the local graduates have to go through the examination as well.

  'It's like throwing the baby out with the bath water,' he said.

  The recommendations, released yesterday, also include the proposal that decisions by the Medical Council should take immediate effect instead of waiting for their publication in the Gazette, as stipulated now.

  Dr So said that it would be at least two weeks before the ruling had effect, and this created a loophole.

  'If somebody is doing the public harm, he will do the public harm for two more weeks,' he said.

  The recommendations also commented on the controversial section of the bill which states that only those qualified to practise medicine and surgery can be called 'doctors'.

  Association president Dr Lee Kin-hung said that the term in the bill should be 'medical doctor' instead of 'doctor', and that it was 'an obvious mistake'.



Anger over extra test for medical students