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Emily Tsang

Elizabeth Cheung

Young doctors are losing interest in joining Hong Kong’s understaffed obstetrics and gynaecology departments, according to a new survey.
Only half of those departments’ trainee posts were filled by medical graduates last year.
Severe staff shortages in the specialism are scaring away newcomers, creating a vicious cycle in which the shortages only get worse, according to the survey of around 300 medical graduates.
And since the introduction in 2013 of the “zero quota” policy, banning mainland women without a local husband from giving birth in the city, many private hospitals have lost maternity beds. This is because of a significant drop in births, from over 9,000 a year to around 6,000 last year.
An insider said that that lucrative private market taking a hit means fewer career opportunities for young obstetricians, which could be a factor behind the fall.
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“Workload and pressure have been extremely large and affected family lives too,” said Dr Terence Lao Tsu-hsi, a Chinese University professor in obstetrics and gynaecology.
He said doctors working in the departments usually had to take six to seven on-call shifts a month, meaning standing by for work after regular duties.
Pressure is also greater than other specialisms because of unpredictable changes, he said. “You can never know how many people are delivering and showing signs of giving birth. With so many uncertainties and higher risk, why would one do such an unpleasant job?” asked Lao.
But he said the drop in demand related to the “zero quota” policy didn’t ease the burden as staff shortages had severely affected public hospitals for a long time.
A public hospital doctor who is receiving specialist training in internal medicine said the mixed nature of the specialism, which requires knowledge of medicine and surgery, has been both an advantage and disadvantage.
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“It is an interesting subject. But if I am interested in medicine, I would naturally choose medicine. If I enjoy performing operations, I would choose to be a surgeon,” said the doctor, who declined to be named.
At all times, public hospitals lack around 250 doctors across different departments.
This has caused consternation as local doctors have opposed the government’s proposal of introducing more overseas-trained doctors. Newly added medical students will not come into service until 2018.
The obstetrics and gynaecology department in public hospitals saw a particularly severe exodus last year, with 17 per cent of obstetricians jumping ship, up from 1.9 per cent the year before.
The survey, led by the obstetrics and gynaecology departments of three public hospitals, found that the popularity of the speciality is declining – from the third most-liked subject to the eighth.
Researchers pointed out there was a manpower crisis in the department as only 50 per cent of the 24 trainee posts in the department specialising in pregnancy and birth were filled, leaving 11 posts vacant last year.
Medicine and surgery remained the most popular choices for medical graduates.
The study by Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern, Queen Mary and Prince of Wales hospitals, is published on Hong Kong Medical Journal on Friday.


Hong Kong hospitals face staff shortage in obstetrics and gynaecology as young doctors avoid field

Hong Kong hospitals face staff shortage in obstetrics and gynaecology as young doctors avoid field

Departments last year only filled half of posts