Sessional_Paper_1896 — Page 706

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THE PRESIDENT-What we wish to know is how the doctors are selected for the Tung Wa Hospital. Who recommends them?-Letters of recommendation are given by me or anybody else stating the man's character and ability.

Mr. CHATER-Have they no actual qualification as doctors ?-We see a man's recommendation and invite him to the Hospital, and we give him a text to write upon. He is asked to write upon a certain disease, and we see if he can describe it or not.

Dr. Ho KAI-What the witness means is they give the man a subject for a medical thesis.

THE PRESIDENT--Who decides if it is properly written?-The doctors in the Hos- pital say if it is properly done. The doctor is then asked to come to the Hospital, and he is employed on trial for a month without any salary.

Mr. CHATER-What pay do the doctors get ?--If a doctor on trial cures the sick people and everything is right about him, we consult together and he is engaged at a salary of 20 taels a month. Even if he stays for ten years there is no change in his salary. His food is provided for him, and he lives in the Hospital.

Are these men selected from the Chinese community of Hongkong or are they invited to come from any institution or college in Canton ?-Very few come from Hongkong; most of them come from Canton and the country round about.

Do you know if any of these doctors have had a regular education in medicine? -They learn to be doctors by reading books, and other doctors teach them.

Are there regular Chinese books on medicine?--Yes.

How many doctors are there in the Tung Wa Hospital?-Four permanent doctors -all on the same salary, and there is another doctor there on trial for a month.

THE PRESIDENT--Five is the complement ?--We had six last year because there were so many patients.

Mr. CHATER--There is a book in which the patient's name is entered when he is brought to the Hospital. When he is discharged is that also entered in the book?--Yes.

And suppose the patient is unfortunate and dies, is that also recorded ?—Yes.

Dr. Io KAI--About these doctors, is it not usual to engage them for three months and then to renew the appointment for another three months ?-Yes; if a doctor is found unsuitable he is not re-engaged.

Mr. CHATER-How long have the present doctors been there ?-Two have been there about three or four years.

Mr. WHITEHEAD--Is there any medical college in Canton or anywhere in China where men are trained according to the Chinese methods of medicine?—So far as I know there is not one where people are taken in and taught.

Dr. Ho KAI-But each medical man may take in pupils himself?—Yes, a man may follow a doctor and learn from him.

Some of the Chinese doctors to your knowledge never engage as apprentices, but simply read the medical books and put up a signboard ?--Probably there may be occasionally a case of a man learning simply from the books.

Mr. WHITEHEAD-There is no such system in China as in other countries where a medical practitioner gets a diploma from a Board or College?-No; there is no such thing as a diploma.

As regards making a change in the Hospital how would it suit the ideas of the Chinese to have a Chinese doctor in the Tung Wa Hospital who had been trained in Western medicine ?-I am not a doctor and I cannot say.