XN000022-1997-01-22 — Page 31

Reply:

(b)

(c)

(a)

(b)

(c)

20 -

whether the Government has advised the overseas medical institutions concerned of the amendments to the Medical Registration Ordinance; if not, when such institutions will be advised; and

whether the students mentioned in (a) above will be given a grace period so that they can be exempted from taking the Universal Licensing Examination; if not, what other kinds of assistance will be provided to these students?

We have no information on the number of Hong Kong residents who were enrolled in courses at recognised overseas medical institutions exempted from the former Licentiate Examination requirement prior to the commencement of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 1995.

Some individual students, studying medicine in Australia and Ireland, have informed the Hong Kong Medical Council that they feared they might have difficulty in securing internship training overseas which is a requirement for candidates of the Licensing Examination under the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 1995. To date, the Hong Kong Medical Council has been able to resolve satisfactorily all cases seeking the Council's help by approaching the overseas Medical Councils. At present, we are not aware of any student studying medicine abroad who cannot fulfill the requirements to sit the Licensing Examination.

Upon enactment of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance in 1995, the Hong Kong Medical Council wrote to overseas Medical Councils including UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to set out the details of the amendments to the Medical Registration Ordinance and to explain the new requirements. In mid-1996, the Hong Kong Medical Council through the Hong Kong Government Office in London issued a press release, informing the Hong Kong medical students in UK the details of the amendments and the implementation date.

The Ordinance does not provide a grace period for the Hong Kong medical students under (a) above. Other than assisting these medical students in satisfying the requirement for internship in order to qualify for the Licensing Examination, the Hong Kong Medical Council announced in November 1996 that it would use administrative measures to facilitate them to register in Hong Kong, for example: