‘Very unsatisfactory’: only 65 overseas doctors apply for special scheme to work in Hong Kong
- Scheme recognises qualifications of non-locally trained doctors from 50 overseas medical schools, allowing them to work in city without licensing exam
- Only nine applicants were given an offer, while Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan acknowledges competition for talent is ‘fierce’
Hong Kong’s highly anticipated drive to recruit non-locally trained doctors has only attracted 65 applications, of which nine have been given an offer, according to the chairman of the Hospital Authority, who has pledged to “fight for every inch of ground” in the global quest for medical talent.
The special registration scheme was launched after the government amended the Medical Registration Ordinance in October last year, allowing graduates of 50 non-local medical schools to practice in the city without passing a licensing examination, in a bid to tackle the public healthcare system’s manpower crunch. The government earlier said it aimed to recognise 100 overseas medical schools in total.
In a press briefing on Thursday, authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said among the 65 applications it had received, only 12 were qualified and nine eventually offered a place. It was still unknown whether they would accept the offer.
“The progress of the scheme is very unsatisfactory, we believe the [Covid-19] border restrictions in recent years have a role to play in this,” he said. “We will reach out to the qualified medical schools and conduct a large-scale recruitment drive overseas to attract more talents next year.”
Fan added that most of the candidates were disqualified as they were not Hong Kong permanent residents. Non-permanent residents are only eligible under the scheme if they have specialist qualifications.
