Medical Association Hopeful Of Foreign Doctor Deal

The president of the Medical Association, Ho Chung-ping, said on Friday that he believes the Medical Council will pass a new plan that will exempt overseas doctors from having to carry out internships.

Under the new proposal, overseas doctors will be required to obtain 18 months of clinical experience at the Hospital Authority, the two medical schools in the SAR or the Department of Health.

This compares to the three years suggested in previous proposals that were voted down at a meeting of the Medical Council earlier this month, attracting criticism from many quarters.

Ho said he was under no political pressure to change his earlier proposal, despite criticism from the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, that the original suggestion would belittle doctors at the Health Department. He added that he values Lam's views, but he's only responsible to association members.

Ho said on an RTHK programme that he had contacted Medical Council members who are outside the association to seek their approval, so there should be enough support this time around.

He later told RTHK's Janice Wong that his association would consider the new plan on May 8.

But a council member, Tim Pang from the the Patients' Rights Association, said he opposes the new package. He described it as a "deceptive" deal.

Pang questioned whether the Health Department, which is already short of doctors, would move some of its personnel to public hospitals to satisfy the proposed clinical experience requirement.