Bulletin Summer‧Autumn 1992

linked to that of Hong Kong as a modern international city and to that of our neighbour —China —which is undergoing a rapid modernization process. We must be able to react quickly and adapt ourselves to the changing environment in order to cope with it and flourish in it. Disease patterns w ill change; so w ill our emphasis on teaching and training. For example, as the life expectancy of our population in­ creases, there w ill be a greater demand for the provision of care for the aged, and gerontology w ill surely attract greater attention. Since the medical curriculum is largely department-based and since there is an annual review of the curriculum at the faculty level, our adaptation to change can be flexible, rapid and effective. By continuing the practice of having external examiners at all professional examinations, we further ensure the quality of our medical education programmes. In the future, the faculty w ill be expected to play an even greater role in postgraduate professional training and postgraduate academic education. In conjunction with the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, we w ill participate in the examination and accreditation of specialists and the organization of continuing education courses for Hong Kong doctors at all levels. And to promote postgraduate medical education, we hope to achieve the target of recruiting an average of one graduate student for each teaching staff member by the year 2001. Taking advantage of new developments in molecular biology and biotechnology, we w ill embark on new areas of research in infectious diseases, metabolic problems, and new diagnostic tests, and tackle the problem of cancer, particularly the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancers of the liver, nasopharynx, uterine cervix, and breast. Gene therapy w ill be explored. We w ill harness the advances in information technology for profitable use. We should not be surprised to see the development of biomedical engineering into a new academic discipline. Professors and senior administrative staff o f the Faculty of Medicine, 1992. 6