Coronavirus: hundreds to sit Hong Kong medical school exams this week despite new ban on public gatherings
- Some students express concern over potential health risks, despite assurances desks will be distanced from each other and masks required
- Better to take exams ‘earlier than later’ given unpredictability of pandemic, Chinese University associate dean says
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Chinese University medical schools will hold written exams for hundreds of students this week after receiving special exemptions to a ban on gatherings of more than four people that took effect on Sunday, with the government saying their graduation is critical for the city’s health care system.
Some students scheduled to sit the exams, however, are concerned about the potential health risks and suggested they be postponed in light of the government’s recent delay of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams until April 24 and the cancellation of international exams.
The government on Friday announced the implementation of a 14-day ban on groups larger than four amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, with 12 types of exemptions listed. Academic activities were not among those exemptions.
In an email to final year students on Sunday, HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine’s Associate Dean Gilberto Leung Ka-kit said under the Medical Registration Ordinance, students must undergo the required qualifying exam from April 1 to proceed to internship training in July.
Leung added that the Medical Council of Hong Kong, which is responsible for granting provisional registration for the commencement of internships, found it “highly unlikely” that such registration could be given to students before they passed the qualifying exams.
“The community at large would expect to have doctors who have passed the qualifying examination to serve the general public,” Leung said.
A 2-metre radius will be set up between seats in the two exam halls on HKU’s Pok Fu Lam campus, while all of the 200 students involved will be required to wear masks.
Hong Kong’s examination authority previously advised DSE exam centres at schools to place each seat with a 1.8-meter distance in between.
Under the latest government regulations, the Chief Secretary for Administration has the power to permit some group gatherings under the condition they are necessary for governmental operation or if they are of “exceptional circumstances” that serves the public interest of Hong Kong.
At Chinese University, written exams for final year medical students will also be taking place beginning this Friday, with a total of more than 220 students expected to take part this year. The school confirmed that it officially received its exemption on Monday.
Faculty of Medicine associate dean Enders Ng Kwok-wai told students on Saturday in an email the exams were likely to go ahead with infection control measures in place, urging them “not to succumb to panic mode”.
“The faculty is now actively liaising with the Department of Health regarding the arrangement,” Ng said.
“Please stay calm. As FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) famously said: ‘The only thing we have to fear is … fear itself.’”
A final year medical student at Chinese University told the Post that some students felt the faculty’s exams arrangements were unreasonable, arguing they should be postponed for at least one or two weeks amid the recent sharp rise in infections.
As the progress of the Covid-19 outbreak is unpredictable, after much deliberation, we believe it is indeed safer to hold the examination earlier than later
“Some students have already reflected their concerns to the faculty,” the student said. “The faculty should at least explore some other options … If a student gets infected with the Covid-19 [during the exams], who would be responsible for that?"
“Students are really frustrated with the faculty's handling of the event," the student added.
Chinese University’s Faculty of Medicine said in a reply that exams would proceed, as the pandemic could last for a long period and it was important to maintain the professional quality of graduates.
Students there will be spread across multiple exam venues with distanced seating arrangements at Prince of Wales Hospital – the teaching hospital of the university’s medical faculty.
A spokeswoman from the Food and Health Bureau on Monday confirmed the approvals for the two medical schools.
“[The government] has considered the fact that these [medical] students graduating on time would be critical for supporting the operation of our public health care system,” she said.
Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection also explained earlier at the government’s daily press conference that exemption applications were being looked at on a case-by-case basis. Whether or not events are deemed to be in the interest of the broader community would play a key role in their approval.
