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TRAINING
HEALTH
The degrees of MB, BS, conferred by the University of Hong Kong, have been recognised for registration by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom since 1911. During recent years the Medical Faculty expanded to cope with an annual intake of 120 medical students to meet the increasing needs of the Colony for doctors. Then in October 1970 the annual intake was further increased to 150. Post-graduate clinical training is available in the Colony for higher qualifications awarded by most of the examining bodies in Great Britain, and is supervised by a panel for post- graduate medical education, consisting of university and govern- ment staff members. Due mainly to this programme almost all of the specialist appointments in the Medical and Health Department are now held by locally-recruited staff.
Hong Kong has no local facilities for training in dentistry, but a government dental scholarship scheme enables a number of students from Hong Kong to go overseas each year to study dentistry. This scheme commenced in 1954; 81 scholarships have been awarded.
There are three government hospital schools of nursing, two in general nursing and one in psychiatric nursing. Training at govern- ment schools and at the Caritas Hospital school is in English, but there are also approved schools at Tung Wah Hospital, the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, where instruction is in Cantonese. Examinations are held by the Hong Kong Nursing Board and there is full reciprocity of registration between the Hong Kong Board and the General Nursing Council of England and Wales.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (and to a limited extent other approved hospitals) has one-year courses in obstetric nursing for registered nurses and the tuition is in English. These courses qualify the entrants to sit for the Hong Kong Midwives Board Examination. The Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital runs two-year obstetric courses in Cantonese for student midwives who are not trained nurses. These courses are also accepted by the Hong Kong Midwives Board for entry into its examinations. Due to the limited scope of domiciliary midwifery adequate practical training in this aspect cannot be given and full reciprocity of registration with the Central Midwives Board of England and Wales is not possible at present.
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