HK doctor glad to work in Guangzhou

Although he earns less than his classmates and friends back home in Hong Kong, Jacky Tsui Ching-Kit, a doctor in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said his choice to work on the Chinese mainland has been rewarding.

"Now, many doctors on my level are earning between 80,000 and 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,900) a month in Hong Kong, much more than my monthly salary, but I do not envy them," said the surgeon, who specializes in fundus disease－a disease of the eye－at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, part of Sun Yat-sen University.

"I've never regretted choosing to work in the Guangdong provincial capital after graduation," Tsui said in an interview.

Tsui, 33, said he is more interested in accumulating knowledge than material wealth.

He became an ophthalmologist in Zhongshan center, which is located in the busy Zhujiang New Town, a central business district in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, after a year of training at the center in 2019. Tsui obtained his doctorate in ophthalmology from Sun Yat-sen University in 2018.

Tsui said his job working on the mainland offers him abundant opportunities.

"I usually see from 40 to 50 patients a week, and my team conducts about 20 surgeries during that period," he said. "I also make the rounds in the wards and manage inpatients."

Tsui said he can now perform some simple surgeries for his patients independently.

"My workload is much larger than many of my Hong Kong counterparts, but that can certainly help me grow in terms of knowledge and experience," he said.

Meanwhile, Tsui said he annually participates in many academic exchange events and high-profile international medical conferences that help him keep informed on the latest developments in medical science and technology.

As one of the four first-tier cities on the mainland, Guangzhou attracts many such exchanges and conferences every year, Tsui said.

"It was said that the mainland lagged between five and 10 years behind developed nations and regions in medical treatment, technologies, equipment, instruments and services. That is no longer the case," he said.

He suggested young people from Hong Kong and Macao learn more about the mainland, which is enjoying rapid economic development and is providing more and more opportunities to youths from the two special administrative regions.

Tsui said his father, a retired medical worker in Hong Kong, also supports his work in Guangzhou.

Chen Jie, a professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzhou, said because China has opened up more to the outside world, young doctors on the mainland now have even more opportunities and channels to learn about the latest advancements in medical science and thus improve quickly.

"In addition to having more patients, the mainland offers highly advanced medical treatment, technology and equipment," he said.

Chen said he believed Tsui has made the right choice to work in Guangzhou, and Tsui is not alone.

"Now, many Hong Kong students who study at Jinan have chosen to work on the mainland after they graduate, as working on the mainland will broaden their perspective," he added.

Jinan annually recruits a large number of students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao as well as overseas Chinese students.

Tsui was an undergraduate at Jinan University, majoring in clinical medicine before he obtained his master's degree in public health in Hong Kong.

Now, he's enjoying living in Guangzhou, which is less than an hour away from Hong Kong on the high-speed train. He resides in an apartment near his hospital in a prime location.

Tsui can now use his residence permit to purchase bus and railway tickets, and he can open accounts at local banks. Previously, Tsui was required to show his travel documents to do these things.