Faculty of Medicine of

The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university ...

(CUHK) () was established in 1981 and consists of five schools which offer an array of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the field of medicine,

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

, pharmacy and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. The Hong Kong's Prince of Wales Hospital is the faculty's teaching facility and base of research. The

medium of instruction A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...

of all programs is English while Chinese is also retained for the teaching of

Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

. It is one of the only two medical training faculties established in Hong Kong, along with the older

Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine or LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed), formerly known as the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, is a medical school which comprises several schools and departments that provide an array of tert ...

. They are also the only two

tertiary institutions Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

in Hong Kong that provide

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

and pharmacy programmes. CUHK's medical school has been ranked as one of the top 50 medical schools in the world, despite its short history of 35 years as of 2016.

History

The medical school of CUHK was approved to be established in 1974 by the

Hong Kong legislative council The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong' ...

and finished its basic construction to receive its first batch of medical undergraduates in 1981. The

United Christian Hospital United Christian Hospital is an acute district general hospital in Kwun Tong of New Kowloon in Hong Kong, operated by the Hospital Authority. The hospital has 1,174 beds and staff of 3,000, serving eastern Kowloon. Founded in 1973, it has links ...

and the Kowloon Hospital were the teaching hospitals of the school prior to the opening of the

Prince of Wales Hospital Prince of Wales Hospital is a large of Tertiary referral hospital and large of teaching hospital from Faculty of Medicine in Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin, New Territories in Hong Kong.. Named after Charles, Prince of Wales (now ...

in 1984. Later on, various schools and departments were opened as well, followed by the introduction of different programmes in other fields of healthcare and biomedical sciences other than the original medical one. With the establishment of the Department of Nursing, the Bachelor of Nursing (post-registration) and Bachelor of Nursing (pre-registration) degrees were introduced in 1991 and 1995 respectively at CUHK and the Department was then renamed as "The Nethersole School of Nursing" in 2002. Moreover, the

Bachelor of Pharmacy A Bachelor of Pharmacy (abbreviated B Pharm or PharmB or BS Pharm) is a graduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. In many countries, this degree is a prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist. Since both PharmB and Phar ...

programme was launched in 1992, being Hong Kong's first educational course in that domain. This is followed by the construction of the School of Public Health 7 years later which then has been providing the city's first and sole

Bachelor of Science in Public Health The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) (or Bachelor of Public Health) is an undergraduate degree that prepares students to pursue careers in the public, private, or non-profit sector in areas such as public health, environmental health, h ...

programme starting from 2009. The School of Chinese Medicine which originally affiliates with the University's Faculty of Science transferred to the Medical Faculty from 1 July 2013 in consideration of the School's reconfiguration and development. During the time, various important medical related discoveries were also explored by the institute. The first full-time Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Professor G. H. Choa, was appointed in 1977. Currently, the Dean of Medicine is Professor Chan, Ka Leung Francis.

Programmes and admission

Currently, the majority of the seats are offered for students who are selected based on their strength in the local university entrance examination (

HKDSE The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) is an examination organised by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). The HKDSE examination is Hong Kong's university entrance examination, administere ...

or previously

HKALE The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE, 香港高級程度會考), or more commonly known as the A-level, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), was taken by senior students at the end of their matric ...

) — the JUPAS students. Remaining ones are provided for non-JUPAS students, students who take overseas examinations such as GCE, or postgraduate students who have already completed a bachelor's degree. For example, the MBChB (medicine) programme offers 265 places annually, of which close to half of the places are allotted to non-JUPAS students. The duration of all programmes under the new

curriculum is at least 4 years, one more than that for former students who received

qualifications. Non-JUPAS students will be assessed by the schools to decide their stream. It is one of the only two tertiary institutions in Hong Kong which provide medical and pharmacy programmes and is the sole one that has a public health undergraduate programme. The competition is therefore fierce due to the limited numbers of intakes and a good examination performance is required, especially for medicine (MBChB) and pharmacy. Moreover, interviews are part of the selection process. Following the UK model, medical students graduating from CUHK will be awarded the

MBChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

, which is the equivalent of the MBBS awarded by HKU. Other graduates will also be conferred with the corresponding

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

s. Moreover, the Faculty also provides different postgraduate programmes, including postgraduate diploma, Master's degrees and Doctoral degrees.

Schools and departments

Schools

CUHK Medical Faculty now consists of five schools: School of Biomedical Sciences; The Nethersole School of Nursing; School of Pharmacy, The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, and The School of Chinese Medicine. The School of Chinese Medicine, which originally affiliates with the University's Faculty of Science, transferred to the Medical Faculty from 1 July 2013. *School of Biomedical Sciences *The Nethersole School of Nursing *School of Pharmacy *The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care *School of Chinese Medicine

Departments

Departments at the faculty include: * Anaesthesia and Intensive Care * Anatomical and Cellular Pathology * Anatomy * Biochemistry (Medicine) * Chemical Pathology * Clinical Oncology * Community and Family Medicine * Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging * Medicine and Therapeutics * Microbiology * Obstetrics and Gynaecology * Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences * Orthopaedics and Traumatology * Paediatrics * Pharmacology * Pharmacy * Physiology * Psychiatry * Public Health * Surgery * Accident and Emergency Medicine Academic Unit

Affiliated hospitals

* Kowloon Hospital *

CUHK Medical Centre CUHK Medical Centre is a non-profit teaching hospital at Ma Liu Shui, New Territories, Hong Kong, next to University station. Opened on 6 January 2021, it is a self-financed teaching hospital of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). The ...

References

{{authority control Medical schools in Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong 1981 establishments in Hong Kong Educational institutions established in 1981