Fudan medical degree first from mainland China to be recognised in Hong Kong in special scheme, among 23 more overseas schools listed

Medical graduates from Fudan University can now apply to practise in Hong Kong, after the school became the first institution in mainland China to have its qualifications recognised by the city under a special registration programme.

The top Shanghai medical school was included on Wednesday when Hong Kong released a list of 23 non-local institutions whose qualifications would be accepted under the special scheme.

The scheme allows eligible doctors to eventually attain full registration status in the city without the need for a local licensing exam, as long as they fulfil several criteria. It was launched in a bid to ease Hong Kong’s chronic manpower shortage in the public healthcare sector, and this is the second batch of institutions to be announced.

In Fudan’s case, graduates of its six-year medical programme will be eligible to apply.

Other schools from the latest list included the University of Sydney in Australia, the University of Bristol in Britain and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The list is set to be gazetted on Friday before taking effect the same day. It will then be submitted to the Legislative Council on June 15 for “negative vetting”, a process under which the government implements legislation and Legco can amend it later.