A difficult doctors' exam is set to become even harder for overseas-trained practitioners.
The Hong Kong Medical Council said yesterday that from September, the licentiate entry exam for all doctors who qualify outside Hong Kong, including those from Britain and Commonwealth countries, will double the number of multiple-choice questions to 240.
The questions measure a candidates' knowledge of medical fields such as surgery, psychiatry and paediatrics.
Medical Council secretary Rupert Cheung Ming-bor said the change aimed to make the test more comprehensive following local doctors' concern that it was easier than tests set at the two local medical schools.
Mr Cheung said low pass rates were due to the poor standard of overseas candidates, especially from the mainland.
Pass rates of more than 35 per cent were only gained when more US and Taiwan students sat the exams.
A former member of the licentiate examination board, Dr David Anderson, yesterday criticised the existing exam as so difficult it kept many overseas-qualified doctors out.
