A New Era Begins 1975-78

Chinese University of Hong Kong after fulfilling its matriculation requirements. In the Chinese schools, Chinese is used as the medium of instruction but English is taught as a second language, on the other hand, in the Anglo-Chinese schools, English is used wi th Chinese taught as an optional language. Another difference is that students in the Chinese schools spend only one year in the Sixth Form whereas those in the Anglo-Chinese schools spend two years. For admission into the medical school students from the Chinese schools will have to enter the Pre-medical year as they will be required to study physics, chemistry and biology for one more year. However, direct admission into the Pre-clinical year will be considered for students in the Faculty of Science who wish to transfer to medicine, and for science graduates and students who have done exceptionally well in the Advanced Level Examination after two years in the Sixth Form. Throughout the entire course, English will be used in teaching. Following the usual practice, graduates will have to serve a year of internship in an approved hospital, of which their own teaching hospital will be one. Coming back to the physical plant: the plans for the Basic Medical Sciences Building and the teaching hospital have already been completed. The Basic Medical Sciences Building will be built adjacent to the Science Centre of the University, where among others the departments of physics, chemistry, biology and biochemistry are situated. In this building, the pre-clinical departments of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology will be accommodated, while further space will be allocated to the department of biochemistry. There will be the usual facilities: lecture rooms, offices, research laboratories, multi-disciplinary laboratories, dissection rooms and animal quarters. The teaching hospital will be located on a site which has been formed by reclamation about 5 miles from the campus. It will have some 1,400 beds, to be divided among the various specialities. The Department of Pathology will be situated in the hospital building complex. A separate building which will be an extension to the hospital, and designated as the Clinical Sciences Building, will provide offices and research laboratories for the clinical academic staff and lecture and seminar rooms for the students. Besides, there will be an out-patient clinic where the clinical staff will see cases referred to them and hold teaching sessions as well. In addition to quarters for the medical and nursing staff, it is proposed to build a student hostel where final year students will be accommodated so that they can attend hospital practice on a 24-hour basis for elective periods. There will be a Library in the Clinical Sciences Building for both staff and students. Provision for the use of audio-visual aids, including close- circuit television, and computerization of hospital records will be made. It is estimated that these two building projects will cost about HK$500 million, including equipment. For the University, the University & Polytechnic Grants Committee has recommended to the Government to give the University earmarked grants to cover the capital cost of the Basic Medical Sciences Building, and the Clinical Sciences Building in the hospital complex, and to meet the recurrent expenditure of the 51