Message from the President, Prof. Raymond Liang, July 2011

 

Dear Fellows,


In a few weeks’ time, a new batch of house officers will be joining. There will also be new trainees entering our training programmes. I still vividly remember my first day as an intern in the University Department of Medicine at Queen Mary Hospital. We met the then Head of Department, Professor David Todd, founding President of the Academy. He mentioned something about working hours. He said that interns in his department had no official working hours. We could start the day any time and leave the hospital also any time, as long as our patients’ conditions were stable. It did not take us very long to notice that, with a good number of patients under our care, we all ended up staying in the hospital most of the time. Despite the long working hours and the frequent sleepless nights, it was a very rewarding experience of serving and learning.


The message is simple. Being a doctor, the well-being of our patients is always our top priority. This is an important point to remember while we are discussing the issue of doctors’ working hours in our public hospitals.


Wishing you all a happy summer and a nice break if you have that luxury!


 

Professor Raymond Liang
President