Introduction

Hong Kong is a special Chinese administered city with one of the most populous inhabitants (7 million) out of which 93% are Chinese ethnic. Hong Kong has one of the most expansive skyline also known as vertical city. Official languages are Chinese and English. The city is one of the most industrialized with freest economy. City has highly developed public transportation covering 90% of population.

Health care system in Hong Kong is well developed. 42 public and 13 private hospitals are working efficiently in the city making it third highest life expectancy country after Japan and Switzerland. The city has 4th lowest child mortality rate in the world which shows advancement of Hong Kong in Health care.

More health statistics can be found on Department of Health of Hong Kong page

Undergraduate Medical Education

Admission in universities are based on an examination and interview. After which students are selected and admitted in undergraduate program in medicine.

Basic Medical Education in Hong Kong comprises 5 year. Graduates are awarded with MBBS degree followed by one year of internship. Internship is usually in four major clinical disciplines e.g surgery, medicine, pediatrics and Obs/Gynecology and consists of three months rotation in each department. Apart from modern medicine, traditional Chinese medical education is also popular in the country.

Some universities e.g. Chinese University of Hong Kong gives 6 year degree of MBChB. After that local medical graduates can apply for Hong Kong medical residency training program.

Hong Kong medical Residency

Entry into Hong Kong medical residency training in desired field for doctors and foreign medical practitioners is only possible after getting registered with Medical Council of Hong Kong. Specialty training and fellowships detailed guidelines, details, entry  requirements etc all can be found on Hong Kong Academy of Medicine website.

Licence/Registration

All medical graduates except graduates of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong must pass the Medical Council’s Licensing Examination and complete preregistration internship training & assessment in approved hospitals or institutions in order to get registered with Medical Council of Hong Kong to work as medical practitioners.  

There are five types of local and foreign doctors registration in Hong Kong with the Council 

1. Provisional registration (issued to those who pass licensing examination)
2. Full registration (after provisional registration and internship)
3. Limited registration (for maximum 1 year but extendable for another year, in case of any employment offered in Hong Kong)
4. Temporary registration (in case of clinical teaching or research)
5. Specialist registration

Eligibility

For local and foreign doctors registration in Hong Kong. Eligibility Criteria to sit for licensing Examination is

• 5 year medical education including internship
• Application fee submission
• Good Character certificate

More detailed information about the above mentioned eligibility criteria.

Examination

Licensing Examination is bit lengthy three part exam.

• Part I : Professional knowledge exam (2 papers of 120 MCQs each)

(basic medical sciences, medical ethics, community medicine, general medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry and obstetrics & gynecology)

• Part II : Medical English Proficiency test
• Part III : The Clinical Examination
  Clinical scenario based exam in medicine, obstetrics & gynecology, surgery (general & orthopedic) and pediatrics

Medical Council of Hong Kong has set detailed guidelines and pattern of examination for local and foreign doctors.

However there are some exemption criteria for stages of exam. 

For specialists see under Procedure heading

Guidance to First Sitters for Licensing Exam

Fee

Application fee (for foreign doctors registration in Hong Kong as candidate) HK$1,380 or 180 USD

Examination fee

•  Part I Examination in Professional Knowledge HK$3,010
•  Part II Proficiency Test in Medical English HK$1,610
•  Part III Clinical Examination
•  All disciplines HK$3,220

Single discipline (re-sit candidates only) HK$1,200

Fee for provisional registration is 44 USD or 335 HK$

Fee for specialist foreign doctors registration in Hong Kong is 1060 HK$ or 137 USD

Salary

Salaries in Hong Kong are high. For GP 5000-8000 USD/month

Procedure

Steps to be followed by foreign medical graduates:

1. Check if you are eligible for sitting for licensing examination of Medical Council
2. Apply to medical council with all relevant documents.
3. pay the fee for examination
4. Sit for exam at the designated center
5. pass all examination parts
6. apply for provisional registration
7. apply for internship place and finish mandatory internship and assessment
8. apply for full registration
9. apply for Hong Kong medical residency training at Hong Kong Academy of Medicine for further specialty training.

For Specialist.

1. Apply to Hong Kong Academy of Medicine with all required documents and get accreditation certificate from them
2. With that certificate and all qualifications fill specialist registration application form in Form section, pay fee and apply for specialist registration at Medical Council of Hong Kong.

Documentation

All required forms have guidelines in them and list of documents to be attached with your application. These can be found here.

Postgraduate Medical Education

Postgraduate Education and Training can be done as master’s degree program University of Hong Kong Li ka Shing School of Medicine , Chinese university of Honkong medical school, and others offers wide range of programs in research and clinical disciplines. Also a vast variety of CPD courses are offered for doctors.

After foreign doctors registration in Hong Kong as General Practitioner Hong Kong Academy of Medicine offers vast range of Fellowships which is another alternative for doctors. Currently 64 specialties have been recognized by Medical and Dental Council by this academy.

Apart from this there are regular courses, programs, workshops offered by different institutes which provide great platform for doctors in Hong Kong.

Links

Hong Kong Academy of Medicine .

Medical Council of Hong Kong.

Department of Health of Govt of Hong Kong.