Foreign-trained doctors scheme just ‘opening a small door’, with annual intake of up to 300 easing shortfall: top Hong Kong government adviser
- Executive Council member Dr Lam Ching-choi says medical students based in prestigious overseas schools have already reached out and shown interest in returning to hometown
- Under fresh scheme, non-locally trained doctors can gain full registration in Hong Kong without the need to pass a local licensing exam, provided they are permanent residents, among other conditions
An annual intake of up to 300 foreign-trained doctors could help ease Hong Kong’s dire shortfall, a top government adviser has said, describing a latest proposal for the medical sector as “opening a small door”.
Executive Council member Dr Lam Ching-choi argued the plan to allow thousands of Hong Kong doctors practising outside the city to work in their hometown without taking a local licensing exam could be attractive for some medical students overseas. He pointed to pupils in prestigious schools who had already approached him.
Lam on Saturday said the city currently had a shortage of about 700 doctors in public institutions, and officials aimed to plug that manpower gap.
“If we can have 200 to 300 people coming through this small door every year, I feel this can solve part of the problem,” he told a Saturday radio show.
While Lam admitted the figure was his own estimate, he warned that only securing a double-digit flow of incoming medical talent each year would not help much.
