Message from the President, G. Tang, December 2006

Dear Fellows,

I hope you have had a merry Christmas and have enjoyed the festive time with your families and friends.

I feel delighted and privileged that I shall be in office with the rest of the Officers (Prof Raymond Liang, Dr CT Hung, Dr KW Chu, Dr Stephen Foo, and Dr Richard Kay) for another 2 years to serve you and the Academy. There are 6 new College Presidents joining the Academy Council. Together, we will strive to steer the Academy forward to scale new heights within its statutory function and power.

The Academy has grown steadily throughout the years. For the past 7 years, we have an average annual increase of 256 new Fellows. To date, the Fellowship number is 4885. This means that for the Hong Kong community, there are 4885 doctors who have satisfactorily completed the structured training for specialists, and have successfully passed the examinations to be qualified as Fellows of the Academy and are eligible to apply for the Specialist Register. They are recognised specialists in their own field.

The completion of the Specialist Training and its accreditation through examinations, both continuous and summative, is no small task for a doctor. The structured training is always benchmarked with international standards. When the examinations are conjoint ones, the candidates do fulfill the requirements of overseas colleges. If the examination is not a conjoint one, there are always external examiners who see to it that the training is up to as well as on par with colleges overseas.

There are two major examinations: intermediate and exit. Though there may be differences in the content of the examinations due to specialty differences, the examination is always conducted under the most stringent and fair conditions. For example in written examination, questions are kept under strict confidential cover, patients are chosen during the period of time when trainees are barred from the clinical areas, examiners are paired, and if an examiner should meet his trainee at the examination, he does not give any examination mark to avoid bias. There is always intense examiners’ discussion for each candidate after the examination. I feel certain that the examinations are conducted under the fairest and most transparent condition, and the results are highly credible and reflective of the candidate’s performance.  The goal of maintaining standard in any specialty is achieved.

In my speech at the recent AGM, I have alluded to the competence required of a specialist and his/her roles as a medical expert, professional, communicator, collaborator, manager, health advocate, and scholar. I have no doubt that the examinations assessed adequately on “medical expertise”. There are other aspects that may not be easy to assess or examine, particularly on “professionalism”. That requires a doctor’s constant reflection on ethics, altruism, integrity, honesty, compassion, and caring during his/her daily practice. I do hope we are all mindful that our professional status is given to us by the society in trust, and we need to live up to the expectations and be deserving of the trust rendered to us.

Right is might.

May I wish all Fellows a healthy and happy 2007,

Professor Grace Tang
President