Letters | Hong Kong’s third medical school must have sizeable teaching hospital
Readers discuss a vital resource for medical training, Hong Kong’s healthcare priorities and the need for vigilance over property transactions
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In the interests of establishing an ideal teaching hospital, I suggest that the task group must consider the available clinical teaching facilities of universities that intend to bid for the project, on the understanding that bedside teaching – first introduced in 1892 by Canadian doctor William Osler – is one of the vital components of clinical training and an indispensable tool in the creation of a competent doctor.
Simply put, the capacity of the teaching hospital that will be used by the third medical school must not pale in comparison with those of the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University. Having a sizeable teaching hospital will ensure that students can be trained well by having access to a diverse pool of real-world patient cases.
It will also make sure that Hong Kong’s third medical school is in line with Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau’s direction that the school must aim high on the quality, apart from quantity, of its medical professionals.