Health Bureau plans to set up ‘Medical Academy’

The Council for Medical Affairs has met to address topics related to the launch of a local Medical Academy as well as to analyze the draft law on the Qualification and Enrollment Regime for the Health Professionals, whose public and sector consultation has been concluded. The bill has now entered into the legislative phase, the Health Bureau (SSM) informed in a statement.
According to a statement issued by the SSM, the meeting was attended by specialists from the neighboring region of Hong Kong who introduced the history of the Hong Kong Medical Academy, its development and the system of medical internships.

Some of the experts at the meeting expressed their opinion that specialized training in public hospitals and through private partnerships is not unified, and there are problems with existing specialists even prior to the implementation of the new regime.

Council adviser Hung Chi Tim said that the Working Group gathered opinions and analyzed the specialized training scheme of two local hospitals, establishing some guidelines and frameworks that constitute the first step towards the creation of the Medical Academy and the unified system of specialization training, along with the coordination of medical internships. The measures are intended to provide for the recognition of medical specialists’ qualifications and continuing education for such specialists.

Adviser Lai Fok Meng added that the future training program requires more standardization and needs its contents to be based on the Hong Kong academy.
The director of SSM, Lei Chin Ion, who is also Chairman of the Council, noted that, with the creation of the Medical Academy, the level of specialized health care services provided is expected to grow as well as be able to create a unified platform that will unify the public and private sectors.