Hong Kong needs a new ‘high quality’ medical school that will ensure a ‘positive impact’ on healthcare talent and innovation, the city’s health minister has said after three local universities kicked off a race to fill the manpower gap. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Saturday said the new medical school must be fully prepared and ensure students would fulfil the standards of the local licensing council. “Setting up the third medical school will have a positive impact on Hong Kong’s training of medical talent or even healthcare innovation,” he told the press after a radio show.
“But I have to emphasise that we do not only need the third medical school but a third medical school that is good and with high quality.” The government would continue to communicate with interested universities and build a mechanism to assess which proposals would be the most ideal, he added. He expressed hope that the third medical school could also achieve a global ranking of 40th or higher, similar to or even surpassing the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).
The Post reported earlier this month that the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was discussing establishing a medical school in the city with Imperial College London. In the same month, both the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and CUHK also announced plans to launch a new medicine graduate programme. HKU medical dean expressed confidence the faculty could expand the annual intake of medical stud.
