Message from the President, G. Tang, February 2006

           

Dear Fellows,

I wish to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a healthy and happy 2006 as well as the Year of the Dog.

 

For the past year, you have been informed about deeper collaboration with China and that the Academy has been invited by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to assist in the development of Specialist Training, Accreditation and Registration. Much dialogue had occurred. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was to be signed on 6 February 2006 but due to unforeseeable circumstances, the ceremony had to be deferred. The MOU shall be signed at the earliest possible time that is convenient to both parties. Notwithstanding the deferment of the MOU, collaborative work is ongoing. The Academy has established the Academy Scholarship for exchange of training, and in the first instance, the Academy has decided that such exchange shall be offered to young specialists so as to widen their scope of experience. Discussion is also ongoing for consideration of trainees in China to take the intermediate examinations. This will be the first step in benchmarking with the international standard. These activities are only the beginning of a greater series of academic and professional activities and exchanges between Hong Kong and Mainland. The Academy shall be establishing the policies with the MOH while Colleges shall be launching the implementations. Depending on a number of factors, different Colleges will be moving at different pace in this deeper collaboration with China . Your views will be much appreciated.

 

On Continuous Professional Development (CPD), I have given 3 talks in the last 4 months in Seoul , Hong Kong, and Singapore at Educational Meetings. I am very happy to learn that CPD has now become a feature in Educational Meetings that previously concerned only undergraduate education. While undergraduate education and postgraduate training lay the foundation of medicine in well-structured formats, CPD is a very important aspect of learning during our 3 to 4 decades of independent professional practice. We wish to maintain professional standard through life-long learning. There is a need to research into the best practice for CPD that will improve performance in very diversified practices. I believe the basic principle of CPD is for the individual to decide what is needed to learn and to improve, and not merely for the accumulation of credits for the sake of compliance. We are responsible for the standard of health-care of the Community—the moral and ethical obligations which I have alluded to before.

 

I shall be in touch with you regularly on the activities of the Academy. I would also like to hear from you too. It is only through dialogue that we can communicate better and improve on the work of the Academy.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

Professor Grace Tang
President