Govt Recognises 23 More Non-local Medical Schools

More non-locally trained doctors will soon be allowed to practise in Hong Kong, as the government announced on Wednesday that it will recognise medical qualifications from 23 additional universities.

Among the latest batch is Fudan University in Shanghai, the first mainland institution on the list of the special registration scheme.

Other newly included institutions include universities from Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The scheme, introduced to ease a manpower shortage, allows non-locally trained doctors from recognised universities to practise in Hong Kong's public healthcare system without taking a local licensing exam.

Altogether 50 universities are now on the recognised list compiled by the government-appointed Special Registration Committee (SRC).

"The SRC is pressing ahead with the assessment of other non-local medical programmes, and medical qualifications that fulfill the stipulated criteria will not be excluded during the process. The SRC aims to submit the remaining medical qualifications to be recognised in batches as soon as possible," a statement wrote.

DAB lawmaker Edward Leung hopes more mainland medical schools will be included in future, saying their graduates find it more attractive to come and practise in Hong Kong than others.

"For the 50 universities [recognised], there's only one mainland university, and the rest are some top universities in other countries, for example in the UK and the US. [Doctors] already are very well-paid in their country, and their housing cost in their country is a lot lower than in Hong Kong," he said.

The new list will take effect on Friday when it's gazetted, before it's submitted to the Legislative Council for a review next Wednesday.

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