In order to solve the "doctor shortage" that has persisted for many years, the government amended the law last year to introduce foreign doctors, and established a special registration committee (committee) to review the medical qualifications of foreign institutions and formulate a list of accreditation.
The Regulations require these medical courses to be comparable to medical qualifications awarded by local universities in terms of content, language of instruction and any aspect the committee deems appropriate.
After discussion, the committee concluded that these courses are "taught in English only". So far, among the 50 recognized medical qualifications, only Shanghai Fudan University is on the list, and the only accredited course is also taught in English and only for overseas citizens.
Last week, pro-establishment lawmakers surrounded the council hall, questioning the committee's private "language requirements" to exclude mainland colleges and universities in disguise.
A member of the House of Representatives continued to demand clarification of legal issues. Ge Peifan, who was the chairman of the Bills Committee on Amending the Doctors Registration Ordinance at that time, even criticized the legal adviser of the committee for ignoring the original intention of the legislation. For example, Lu stated that it was a "last consideration", while agreeing that teaching in local universities is not "English only".
The executive and legislation were in unison, and Deng Huiqiong promised to discuss it in the committee next month.
If the green light is not turned on, will the law be revised again after a year?
Introducing non-local doctors ︱ MPs restrict English courses to exclude the Mainland Registration Committee Rebuttal: Act in accordance with the law
Last year's amendments gave the green light to require the language of instruction to be comparable to that of Hong Kong
The amendment was passed in the parliament after the resignation of the pan-democratic general in October last year. The only dissenting vote came from former medical member Chen Pei-ran.
After passing the legislative requirements, the Special Registration Committee can only recommend medical qualifications that meet the following descriptions for inclusion in the list of accredited courses:
1. It is a degree or higher; 2. It is awarded by a body somewhere outside Hong Kong which is roughly comparable to any local university in terms of international rankings; and 3. It is roughly comparable in terms of the following items Comparable to a medical qualification awarded by any local university— (i) the content of the course in which the relevant medical qualification was awarded; (ii) the language of instruction of the relevant course; and (iii) the committee thinks fit any other aspect of.
Excerpted from Section 14F of the Medical Registration Ordinance
The controversy stemmed from the third point. The chairman of the Health Affairs Committee, Zhang Yuren, pointed out at the time that the provisions did not specify that English should be used as the main language of instruction following the local medical school, and asked the Legislative Council and the committee's legal advisers to clarify this legal issue.
Ge Peifan believes that the legal counsel of the committee has ignored the original intention of the legislation, pointing out that the legislation aims to introduce non-locally trained but high-quality doctors, and respected and believed in the quality of local medical schools when amending the ordinance. The language of instruction must be "English".
Member: The article does not specify "English" Lo Chongmao does not rule out the amendment
In response, Lo Chongmao first pointed out that the "language requirement" was determined by the committee based on the teaching situation of the two local medical schools, and did not exclude medical students from a certain place from coming to Hong Kong. Safeguard the quality of medical care in Hong Kong.
The deans of the two local medical schools later said that English is the main language of instruction, including classes, examinations, publication of articles and writing of medical records. Chinese is only used in learning and communicating with patients.
After listening, Lu expressed his opinion that the statement was different from "English only", reflecting that English is not the only language of instruction. He expressed his hope that the Registration Committee would follow up, and Deng Huiqiong also promised to hold a meeting to discuss.
If the amendment will support Tian Beichen: the first five years in Hong Kong can be run in
A week later, it was ophthalmologist Lam Shun-chao who wrote a long article in the newspaper, pointing out that there is nowhere in the legislation that the language of instruction is limited to English, and that the relevant standards are only the committee's interpretation based on the opinions of legal counsel.
He pointed out that English is indeed the official language of instruction in local medical schools, but Chinese is the main language for teaching practice and clinical communication. From this perspective, top medical students from the mainland are believed to be more qualified to work in Hong Kong. Legislation is the best solution, if not, I hope the government will revise the legislation as soon as possible.”
When the regulations were revised at the end of last year, Tian Beichen lamented that the issue of foreign doctors had been politicized. In an interview with "Hong Kong 01", he agreed that "the language of instruction" should not be the primary consideration, explaining that "knowledge is knowledge" and the language of instruction It does not affect the professional knowledge and medical level of medical students from overseas. As long as their quality and level are recognized, they can be considered for admission to practice in Hong Kong.
He also pointed out that according to the requirements, non-local doctors must work in public hospitals for 5 years after coming to Hong Kong. This is an opportunity for the public and the government to monitor foreign doctors.
Foreign doctors can also take this opportunity to consider whether they can adapt to the Hong Kong medical system, the communication mode with patients, and the connection between colleagues.
Therefore, once the amendments are to be made, he will vote for them, and he also points out that after the relevant standards are relaxed, the Hong Kong medical system must implement a bilingual system in the future.
Di Zhiyuan, member of the New Thinking Legislative Council.
(file picture)
Di Zhiyuan warns against pan-nationalization and does not rush to recruit non-English students
New Thinking Assemblyman Di Zhiyuan disagreed. He said that "English-taught" is an accreditation requirement that is in line with Hong Kong's reality, because in Hong Kong, in addition to medical schools that teach in English, the medical system and even reports are written in English, and more importantly, doctors are on duty. The medical records in the room are all in English, so there are certain requirements for the professional English ability of medical students.
Peng Hongchang, director of the Association of Community Organizations who have been following up on patients' rights for a long time, also pointed out that the Hong Kong Medical College's teaching in English is quite reasonable and does not degrade any medical qualifications taught in English.
He said that although the communication between medical staff and patients mainly uses Cantonese, internal communication, drug use, medical reports, etc. involve a lot of English, and the language consideration is to ensure good communication between medical staff and patients.
He rhetorically asked whether there are famous medical schools in Japan, but the courses are taught in Japanese. If the language of instruction is not considered, are they all included?
Di Zhiyuan believes that the current situation in Hong Kong is not in a hurry to recruit medical students who are not taught in English. The government can give priority to overseas Hong Kong medical students, which can not only ensure the students' English proficiency, but also allow more talents to return to Hong Kong.
He emphasized that the policy should avoid "pan-nationalization". Although integration into China is inevitable, Hong Kong's medical system has been effective for many years and should retain its original advantages. Comprehensive "sinicization" is not a good thing.
Yuan Haiwen: The English proficiency assessment can replace the revision of the bill, which will bring down morale
Yuan Haiwen, a spokesman for the Democratic Party's medical policy, said that language ability must be one of the major criteria for whether foreign doctors are eligible to practice in Hong Kong.
He said that English is the common language of Hong Kong's medical system, and hospital documents and medical documents are mainly in English. The relevant requirements can ensure that medical students coming to Hong Kong are easy to communicate and adapt to.
He agreed that medical students taught in non-English languages should not be excluded from coming to Hong Kong. As long as the courses are similar to local medical schools, and these medical students have been recognized by the International English Proficiency Assessment to ensure that they can communicate with local doctors, they should actively consider introducing them. .
However, even if the language problem is resolved, how to assess the quality of mainland medical schools may be another problem.
Yuan Haiwen said that he noticed that the admission requirements of medical schools in the current list are mixed. For example, the full score of the International Baccalaureate (IB) is 45 points. English medical courses only need to obtain IB 32 points for admission. I am worried that in terms of academic ability, the accredited Fudan courses do not meet the requirements of "comparable to local universities".
Yuan Haiwen stressed his opposition to the further amendment, believing that it would seriously damage the morale of local doctors and nurses.
He said that the current legal provisions were only revised and passed last year, and it was a consensus on the introduction of foreign doctors. The current issue is further politicized in the Legislative Council, which is to ignore the well-being of the public and the quality of medical care.
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