The Chinese University of Hong Kong aims to launch a new medicine graduate programme. Photo: Winson WongThe Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) plans to introduce a new medicine graduate programme. It will be the third tertiary institution to make the move to increase the number of medical students.
The university’s faculty of medicine said on Monday that it started working on the plans months ago after the University Grants Committee invited it to increase the number of medical places for the academic years spanning 2025 to 2028.
A source familiar with the matter said the committee had asked the city’s existing medical schools, at CUHK and the University of Hong Kong (HKU), to consider whether it was feasible for each to add 30 medical places each year annually, including for those who already had other degrees or qualifications.
“The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s faculty of medicine attaches great importance to the quality of teaching and endeavours to ensure that doctors trained by the faculty meet the highest standards of medical knowledge and ethical standards,” a CUHK statement read.
It said the faculty was in talks with the Medical Council of Hong Kong, the Hospital Authority and relevant government bureaus on teaching staff, entry qualifications, number of places, curriculum design and clinical practice arrangements.
Hong Kong could get third medical school; HKUST in talks with Imperial College London
The university hoped its students could master the latest medical technology and artificial intelligence to “keep abreast of the times” and provide patients with the most appropriate treatments.
The source familiar with the matter said that CUHK submitted the proposal in May.
“As medical programmes are subsidised by the government, we will announce the admission and curriculum arrangements in due course after the [committee] has finalised the proposal to increase the number of local medical students and approved the details of the project,” the university statement said.
On Saturday, HKU’s medical school announced plans to establish a new graduate-entry programme, with its dean expressing confidence the faculty could expand the annual intake of medical students from the current 295 to an eventual target of 400.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is also in talks with Imperial College London to set up the city’s third medical school.
HKUST’s president Professor Nancy Ip Yuk-yu said earlier that they aimed to set it up before mid-2027 and was considering recruiting students who already had a first degree.
The increased competition for talent is set against the backdrop of an ongoing shortage of doctors, with the government also outlining its vision for the city to become a biomedical hub in the region.