HK in bid to lure overseas-trained doctors amid lack of manpower

HONG KONG - The Medical Council of Hong Kong passed a proposal on Wednesday to relax rules for overseas specialists working in Hong Kong in a bid to tackle shortage of manpower in local healthcare system.

Under the proposal, overseas specialists can get a full license without having to complete an internship, as long as they've worked for three years in the public healthcare system, and passed a licensing examination.

In Hong Kong, medical practitioners are required to apply for registration with the Medical Council in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Registration Ordinance. Before the proposal, non-locally trained doctors who want to apply for full registration have to work as intern in hospitals under Hospital Authority after passing the examination.

Experienced overseas-trained doctors can also apply for limited registration with a duration as long as they are recruited by the Department of Health of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region, Hospital Authority, faculty of medicine of local universities or other institutions.

Hong Kong has been facing a lack of manpower in public hospitals in recent years. The HKSAR government and relevant institutions have worked together to ease the shortage of medical power.

Secretary for the Food and Health Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Sophia Chan, welcomed the council's decision, saying that it would attract more non-locally trained doctors to alleviate the shortage of local medical manpower.

Chan said that this proposal is one of the methods to increase the manpower in the healthcare sector, more solutions are needed to fundamentally solve the problem of the shortage of doctors in Hong Kong. The HKSAR government will consider to provide training for non-locally trained doctors who newly graduated, so as to attract them to work in Hong Kong, Chan said.