University of Hong Kong to launch shorter degree track for outstanding medical students
- Medical faculty says option will cater to high-achievers determined to quickly join public healthcare system
- Scheme will allow students to complete third-year enrichment activities early, shaving down time to graduate from six years to five
Outstanding medical students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will be able to complete their degrees in five years instead of six under a revamped undergraduate programme set to launch in September.
The university’s faculty of medicine on Wednesday said the five-year option would cater to high-achievers determined to quickly join the city’s public healthcare system, but warned the scheme could do little to immediately alleviate the shortage of doctors.
Data from the Health Bureau provided to the Legislative Council on March 15 showed public hospitals were contending with a lack of staff, after losing 1,247 doctors between April 2020 and the end of 2022, with only 15 per cent of them retiring.
The current curriculum at HKU spans six years, including a third year enrichment programme covering a range of learning activities chosen by students, including humanitarian work, overseas exchanges and research projects.
Following the revamp, students who achieve outstanding results in their college entrance exams and perform well in admission interviews will be eligible to do something else that year.
One of the two choices is to begin clinical clerkships typically offered in the fourth year, but students will then need to integrate the enrichment experience with their first two years of study, for example, by pursuing a research project during semester breaks or on weekends.
Professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit, associate dean for teaching and learning at the medical faculty, stressed the new pathways would not compromise the training of future doctors.