The Hong Kong Government introduced the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2021 into the Legislative Council to create a new pathway for admission of qualified non-locally trained doctors to practice in Hong Kong.

Secretary for Food andHealth Prof Sophia Chan said at a press conference on May 18 that there was a severe shortage of doctors in Hong Kong.

According to the Healthcare Manpower Projection 2020 conducted by the Food and Health Bureau, the projected shortfall of doctors will reach 1,610 in 2030 and 1,949 in 2040.

Prof Chan said that the Government saw an imminent case to create a new pathway for qualified non-locally trained doctors to obtain full registration in Hong Kong as an alternative to the current pathway of passing the Licensing Examination.

She pointed out that a non-locally trained doctor had to be a Hong Kong permanent resident and fulfil certain criteria to qualify for the new pathway.

“The assessment at work is only one of the assessments to determine the competence and also the standard of the candidate.  

“As I reiterated earlier, the candidate would have to first, get his or her medical degree from a medical school in the list that is accredited.

“Second, he or she would have to get medical registration in the place where (the medical school they studied is located).

“And third, they would have to get a job from the employer, that is the public healthcare sector - the Hospital Authority, Department of Health, or the two universities’ (the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong) medical schools, and obviously there are on-the-job assessments.”

For the purpose of determining the list of recognized medical qualifications awarded by non-local medical schools, the bill also stipulates that a statutory Special Registration Committee would be established.

The committee will determine the list of recognized medical qualifications taking into account the medium of instruction and the curriculum of the medical programs concerned, international rankings of the non-local medical schools and any other aspects deemed appropriate, Prof Chan added.