X1000306-1970-71_Part01 — Page 31

toom at the Physiotherapy Training School at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the David Trench Rehabilitation Centre. Also completed, was the Government-assisted hospital, the Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital.

PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

175. Major projects on which construction had commenced were the new vaccine institute at Pok Fu Lam, a standard clinic for Kwai Chung North, Queen Mary Hospital reprovisioning of the mortuary. virus laboratory and clinical pathology services, Tsuen Wan/Kwai Chung Polyclinic, stage I, a Medical Department laundry, the New Clinical Building at Queen Mary Hospital, the Yan Chai Hospital at Tsuen Wan, and the Centenary Block of the Tung Wab Hospital.

176. A detailed statement of development will be found in the Statistical Appendix to this report.

VII TRAINING PROGRAMME (Tables 75-77)

DOCTORS

177. The University of Hong Kong confers the degrees of M.B., B.S.. which have been registrable with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom since 1911. Posts in the major hospitals are rec- ognized for post-graduate training by the majority of examining bodies in Britain.

178. Mention has been made in recent reports of the shortage of qualified medical personnel. In February 1969 a Committee was appointed by Government to review the doctor problem in the Hong Kong Government. The Committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Charles HARTWELL, C.M.G., submitted its report in the same year. In the report reference was made to the need for increasing the intake of medical students by the Medical Faculty of the University of Hong Kong. Between 1965 and 1969 the University's intake of medical students was 120 a year; with effect from October 1970 the intake has been increased to 150. Extension plans to increase the facilities for clinical teaching at Queen Mary Hospital are already in hand, in order to allow for the larger number of students expected to start their clinical training in October 1972.

48

I

179. A programme for the training of Government doctors for post- graduate qualifications has been in existence. A number of training posts are established in the clinical units for post-qualification training. Suitable candidates when selected will be given training under the supervision of the clinical specialists for a period of about four years. Subject to departmental needs a local officer who has completed four years continuous resident service and who has been confirmed to the pensionable establishment, may be granted paid study leave to attend a course of study outside the Colony for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, experience or qualifications which will be of advantage to the public service or to the officer in the official capacity. Through this arrangement, many Goverment doctors in the past years have been given study leaves and granted fellowships, scholarships, or study tours to attend courses of study overseas. Between 1965 and 1970, a total of 48 Government doctors returned to the Colony with higher qualifications in various fields.

DENTAL STAFF

180. No training in dentistry is available in Hong Kong but Govern- ment annually awards scholarships for the study of dentistry overseas. Four such scholarships were awarded during the year. One scholar returned to the Colony after qualification, bringing the total of returned graduates to 63 out of a total of 85 scholarships so far awarded.

181. In-service training in dental technology continues for Govern- ment student dental technicians, while evening classes for dental technicians in private employment are held at the Hong Kong Technical College. During the year seven Government student dental technicians passed the Intermediate Examination of the City and Guilds of London Institute in Dental Technology. In-service training for selected dental surgery assistants in the fields of dental radiography and orthodontics is also carried on.

182. Two Dental Surgery Assistants are in Singapore under World Health Organization scholarships for training in dental nursing. A Dental Nurse is now on a 12-month Dental Nurse Tutor course in New Zealand under a World Health Organization Fellowship, to assist, on her completion of the course, in the training of Dental Nurses in Hong Kong.

49