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Any person who holds this qualification, with not less than three-year recognised experience, will be registered in Part I of the register while those who have the qualification but not the required experience will be registered in Part II.
A spokesman for the Health and Welfare Branch said today (Thursday) the Medical Laboratory Technologists Board considered that the course, run by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University since September 1992, was a relevant and appropriate qualification for registration and should be prescribed in the Regulations.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom qualifications currently prescribed in the Medical Laboratory Technologists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) Regulations and the Occupational Therapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) Regulations as registrable under section 12(1)(a) of the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance will be removed.
Any person who is an associate/fellow of the UK Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences (renamed as Institute of Biomedical Science) or holds a Diploma issued by the British Association of Occupational Therapists shall apply for registration under section 12(1)(b) of the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance, similar to holders of other overseas qualifications.
The spokesman said Hong Kong, being a member of the World Trade Organisation, was obliged to meet the requirement of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
"The removal of the UK qualifications from the Regulations is to avoid possible accusations that the preferential recognition of UK qualifications under the Regulations are inconsistent with the requirement," he said.
He explained that there was no difference in the registration status for a person registered under section 12(1)(a) or 12(1)(b) of the Ordinance.
Applications for registration under section 12(1)(b) need to be considered by both the Supplementary Medical Professions Council and the respective board, hence processing time will be a bit longer.
The amendments will come into effect at the end of this year.
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