Medical Council Closes Door On Foreign Doctors

"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("

Related News Programmes

"); });

2019-04-03 HKT 18:33

Share this story

facebook

  • Medical Council members voted against plans to make it easier for specialists trained overseas to take up jobs in Hong Kong's public hospitals. Photo: Shutterstock

    Medical Council members voted against plans to make it easier for specialists trained overseas to take up jobs in Hong Kong's public hospitals. Photo: Shutterstock

The Medical Council on Wednesday rejected the idea of relaxing requirements for foreign doctors taking up positions in the city's public healthcare system, despite a shortage of staff.

Four proposals were reportedly discussed at a meeting of the council, including dropping the need for specialists trained overseas to carry out a half-year internship, as long as they have passed the council's licensing examination and are willing to serve in public hospitals for at least three years.

The chairman of the council, Joseph Lau, said while all 29 members present at the meeting agreed that there is an acute shortage of doctors in public hospitals, a majority of them voted against the plans.

He described this as "regrettable" and said the proposals would have provided the most efficient and effective solution to the lack of doctors.

Lau said the council will now have to consider other options to address the manpower crunch.

RECENT NEWS

HashKey Gets Regulatory Nod To Offer Virtual Asset Services In Ireland

HashKey Group has announced that its subsidiary, HashKey Europe Limited, has received Virtual Asset Service Provider (V... Read more

HKVAX And Victory Securities Forge Partnership To Advance Hong Kongs Virtual Asset Ecosystem

Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX), Hong Kong’s third virtual asset licensed trading platform and Victory Secur... Read more

5 Major Banks Mantain Domestic Systemically Important Authorised Institutions Status

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) concluded its annual review of Domestic Systemically Important Authorised Insti... Read more

HSBC, StanChart, Alibaba Cloud Among First Cohort Of HKMAs Gen AI Sandbox

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Cyberport have announced the first cohort of its Generative Artificial Inte... Read more

QuickFest 2025 To Focus On AI, Automation, And The Future Of Accounting

QuickFest, the virtual conference tailored for accounting professionals, bookkeepers, and consultants, will return on 1... Read more

5 Stories That Shaped Hong Kongs Fintech Scene In 2024

In 2024, Hong Kong further cemented its position as a leading fintech hub in the world, with the number of fintech comp... Read more