Third medical school for Hong Kong: a boost for biomedical hub ambitions, but will it ease shortage of doctors?
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology sparks debate with plan for US-style graduate medical programme
- Another medical school may boost number of doctors, but impact may be limited if it also focuses on research training, former CUHK president Joseph Sung warns
Hong Kong’s ambitions of becoming an international innovation and biomedical hub received a boost with news that the city could have a third medical school.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is working on a proposal for an American-style medical school with a stronger emphasis on research and development.
While some scientists and academics said the move could prove a catalyst for developing the city into a biomedical hub, heavyweights in medical education questioned how far the new school would go in fulfilling the basic responsibility of producing doctors.
News of the possible new medical school surfaced in April in an unconfirmed media report citing anonymous sources, but more details have emerged recently.
Lawmakers attending a briefing at HKUST last month revealed that it was formalising the proposal, with a preliminary plan to start with 50 students in two to three years’ time, and work towards an annual intake of 200.
Lawmaker Rock Chen Chung-nin, an HKUST council member, told the Post that the governing body had already approved the plan in principle, and details of student recruitment, curriculum design and funding were being ironed out.