A New Era Begins 1975-78

adequate staffing for all the new projects when completed. To produce 100 more doctors a year, there were two obvious alternatives: to increase the intake of the Medical Faculty of the Hong Kong University by another 100 students or to establish a Medical School at this University. After lengthy and careful deliberations, the latter choice was made by the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee, the body responsible for advising Government on tertiary education. In arriving at their conclusion, the Committee took into consideration both the internal and external factors: viz. space is available in our campus for the addition of a Medical School; and a regional hospital and specialist clinic have to be built in Shatin which can be used for clinical teaching. We welcome the addition of medical teachers on our staff for they will doubtlessly add lustre and prestige to the University by their contribution to the advancement of medical science through their work and research, and fruitful exchange of expertise wi th their colleagues in other disciplines. Medical students too will be a great asset to our community. On our campus, they will have the opportunity to mix with others and take part in university life in full, unlike the isolation in some universities with separately situated medical schools. Approval was given by the Government and the Legislature in 1974 to establish this new Medical School. But it was not until 1976, when Hong Kong recovered from economic recesssion that preparatory work actually began. A Medical Academic Advisory Committee was appointed by the University to advise on all aspects of the project. The Chairman of this committee, Professor W. H. Trethowan of Birmingham, will be joining us in tomorrow's session. Other members include some eminent medical educationalists of the U. K., and Dr. John Bowers of the U.S.A. who is the co-sponsor of this seminar. The Advisory Committee has met three times in Hong Kong since 1976, and I will now give you a progress report of the committee's recommendations on the building projects and academic policies, and the execution of some of them to-date. A time schedule has been set on the premise that the regional hospital in Shatin, on which work has recently started, will be ready to admit patients and available for clinical teaching by the middle of 1983. Hence, admission of the first batch of pre-medical students will take place in the fall term of 1980, and pre-clinical students a year later, by the time a Basic Medical Sciences Building will be completed. Delegates to this seminar are invited to attend the Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for this building tomorrow after the conclusion of this seminar, and it is hoped our guests may have time to visit also the hospital site or even the East New Territories region to be served by this hospital, within these two days. But now let me first describe briefly our undergraduate academic programme. The course of studies will be for 6 years, consisting of one Pre-medical year, two Pre-clinical years, and three Clinical years. It should be explained that in the secondary education system in Hong Kong, there are two kinds of schools, known respectively as Chinese and Anglo-Chinese. Students from both streams are eligible to enter The 50