Advertisement

Hong Kong doctors make more concessions in bid to recruit foreign-trained counterparts and ease shortage at public hospitals

  • Medical Council set to vote on May 8 on how to relax an internship requirement for doctors who were trained overseas

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Dr David Lam, vice-president of the Hong Kong Medical Association, speaks to the press in 2018. Photo: Nora Tam
Hong Kong’s doctors have made further concessions in the dispute over how much to lower certification requirements to attract overseas-trained doctors and ease the chronic shortage of specialists in the city’s public hospitals.

Hong Kong doctors on Monday submitted a revised proposal for foreign-trained doctors to the Medical Council, the body that certifies Hong Kong’s doctors, after discussion among the groups such as the Medical Association and the Public Doctors’ Association.

The latest proposal from the doctors’ groups comes with the council set to meet on May 8 to vote on how to relax an internship requirement for doctors who were trained overseas.

The council failed to pass a similar plan earlier this month – and the internship requirement has been frustrating to many in the city government and the public who want to alleviate the doctor shortage.
Professor Sophia Chan, the food and health secretary, on April 10. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Professor Sophia Chan, the food and health secretary, on April 10. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Previous proposals have laid out the conditions by which foreign-trained doctors could be exempted from serving a mandatory local internship after they pass Hong Kong’s medical licensing exam in pursuit of becoming a fully registered practitioner in the city.

Advertisement