June 26, 2024
HONG KONG – The Director of Health announced on Wednesday the fifth batch of medical qualifications for non-locally trained doctors who want to practice in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and help ease a medical staff shortage.
Under the Medical Registration Ordinance, the fifth batch of recognized medical qualifications covers 28 qualifications from institutions in the Chinese mainland, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The list will be gazetted and take effect on Friday. It will be submitted to the Legislative Council for negative vetting on July 3, according to an HKSAR government statement
The list will be gazetted and take effect on Friday. It will be submitted to the Legislative Council for negative vetting on July 3, according to an HKSAR government statement.
Together with the first four batches announced earlier, the Special Registration Committee (SRC) has so far recommended a total of 128 medical qualifications for recognition.
Under the MRO, non-locally trained doctors who have these recognized medical qualifications can apply for special registration to practice in public healthcare institutions in Hong Kong under certain criteria.
After serving for a certain period, obtaining recognized specialist qualifications and passing an assessment, they will be granted full registration to practice in Hong Kong.
For non-locally trained medical graduates who possess recognized qualifications but have yet to undergo internship outside the SAR, they may take the Licensing Examination of the Medical Council of Hong Kong to apply for special registration to practice in the city’s public healthcare institutions.
They may also obtain full registration after meeting the requirements applicable to all special registration doctors.
The city is trying to address a shortage in doctors with health officials in 2021 saying that the Hospital Authority needed 600 more doctors while the Department of Health was looking for 50 more physicians.
According to the local think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, those aged 65 or above will account for 29.9 percent of the city’s population by 2036, and another 10,000 doctors are needed to match the level of healthcare for chronic diseases 20 years ago.