Hong Kong doctors overseas return to work in public hospitals, wooed by better pay, training opportunities
- Special registration scheme has helped Hospital Authority attract 71 overseas-trained doctors so far
- Recruitment drives in UK and Australia drew strong interest, with more planned to bring doctors back
Hongkonger Strathan Dino Chun spent 14 years in the United Kingdom, completing medical school and working as a doctor in Birmingham.
But a recruitment drive in London by Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority in April brought the 29-year-old home.
“The pandemic made it difficult for me to spend time with my parents who live in Hong Kong,” he told a media briefing at Tuen Mun Hospital on Friday. “Most importantly, I wanted to come back to serve Hongkongers.”
Now an ophthalmology resident in the authority’s New Territories West, he is working on his master’s thesis on the staffing crunch in Hong Kong’s public health system.
He is one of 71 overseas-trained doctors recruited by the authority to work in Hong Kong under a special registration scheme.
To tackle a worsening staffing crisis, the government announced in October 2021 that it would allow graduates from non-local medical schools to practice in Hong Kong without having to take a licensing examination.
As of 30 June, nearly 100 overseas medical schools in Australia, mainland China, the UK and the US are recognised under the scheme.