HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
11 May 1988
1347
The Prince Philip Dental Hospital Hong Kong-Report by the Board of Governors for the period 1 April 1986 – 31 March 1987
MISS DUNN: Sir, tabled today is a report on the activities of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital together with a statement of account for the financial year from 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987.
Mention is made in the report, Sir, of the excellent results achieved by the students in the 1987 final examination. This is fine testimony to the very high standards being maintained by the teaching staff of the Faculty of Dentistry and to the dedication, hard work and personal talents of those young men and women who have decided to make dentistry their chosen profession. We can all feel confident that the achievements attained so far will have the continuing effect of enhancing the professional standards of dental practitioners available to the public of Hong Kong.
Sir, the faculty is also assuming an important role as a centre of dental research in the region. In addition to the teaching of undergraduate students, the faculty is committed to providing post-graduate studies for its own graduates and also for graduates of universities overseas. The research work carried out both by those students and by staff ensures that the faculty is at the vanguard of modern developments in dentistry. The hospital is also now the headquarters of the South East Asia Division, the newest division of the International Dental Research Association. The faculty continues to maintain close contacts with Faculties of Stomatology in the People's Republic of China with senior staff from time to time presenting lectures in those faculties and holding visiting teaching appointments there. Conversely visits to the Prince Philip Dental Hospital have been made by many senior dental staff from sister faculties in the Mainland.
Nearer to home senior students with their teachers have participated in outreach community dental health projects often in areas of Hong Kong presently underserved by oral health care facilities, and the services provided have been greatly approved by the public.
It is difficult to imagine that less than 10 years ago, No. 34, Hospital Road, was an empty site. In the intervening years a dental teaching hospital, arguably one of the finest in the world and certainly in this region, has been built and four groups of qualified dentists have been produced. This, Sir, is a great tribute to those people who planned the building, developed the curriculum and generally managed the operation of the hospital and the teaching of the students. One of those, Prof. C. E. RENSON, Foundation Professor in the Department of Conserva- tive Dentistry who was a member of the board of governors during the year under review, retired from the faculty at the end of June last year. It is appropriate and befitting that I record in this Council, the appreciation of the board of governors of the invaluable contribution which Prof. RENSON has made to the development of dentistry in Hong Kong. We wish him a long and happy retirement.