The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (Chinese: 香港大學李嘉誠醫學院; pinyin: Xiānggǎng Dàxué Lǐ Jiāchéng Yīxuéyuàn) 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 tertiary programmes in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and chinese medicine. English is the medium of instruction in all of the classes while Chinese is also retained for the teaching of Chinese medicine. It is located several kilometres away from the main campus of the university and is near the Queen Mary Hospital which is its main teaching facility and research base. Founded in 1887, it is also one of the oldest western medical schools in the Far East.
The London Missionary Society founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1887.[2]Kai Ho, James Cantlie, Patrick Manson and G. P. Jordan were the founding professionals.[3] Important initiatives[clarification needed] were led by notable members such as Patrick Manson, an experienced medical practitioner who made his name in the field of tropical medicine. Having served in the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs as a medical officer for 18 years, he took up private practice in Hong Kong from 1883 to 1889. Sir Kai Ho Kai was also a member of the Chinese elite in Colonial Hong Kong.[4] He played a major role in convincing the Chinese population that western medicine was acceptable in a culture that had been largely dominated by traditional Chinese medicine.
In 1907 the school was renamed the Hong Kong College of Medicine.[5] In 1908 it was authorized to sign death certificates.[6] The nucleus of the school would later create the foundation for the new University of Hong Kong in 1910. Chinese society at the time was not quite ready for western medicine. As a result, many of the medical graduates had difficulty finding employment.[5]
The college was merged to become the medical school of HKU in 1911, one of the university's first faculties. The establishment of the Queen Mary Hospital in 1937 brought the faculty a major clinical teaching and research base. However, the Japanese occupation in the city during the Second World War disrupted teaching and many staff and students were imprisoned. Following the end of the war, it reopened and soon became an important training centre of clinicians in the city with many departments and schools in healthcare and medical sciences opened. Important milestones include being the world's first team that successfully identified the SARS coronavirus, the causative agent of the pandemicSARS on 21 March 2003.[7] This was followed by the visit of Wen Jiabao to the faculty acknowledging the institute's contribution, the first time a Premier of China had visited a university in Hong Kong.[8] Moreover, a State Key laboratory for emerging infectious diseases was established, the first of its kind located outside mainland China.[8] The faculty launched a Bachelor of Pharmacy programme in 2008, being the second and of two institutions in the city offering pharmacy education.[8]
Admission and Programmes
Currently the Faculty offers seven undergraduate degree programmes:[9]
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
Bachelor of Nursing
Bachelor of Chinese Medicine
Bachelor of Pharmacy
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Global Health Development
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences
Bachelor of Sciences in Bioinformatics
A new programme, Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics, is set to receive its first intake in the 2022/23 academic year.
Medical graduates are awarded the M.B., B.S.; the equivalent degree offered by the CUHK Faculty of Medicine is the M.B., Ch.B. Both degrees are based on the United Kingdom's model for medical degrees. Moreover, the Faculty also provides various postgraduate programmes, including postgraduate diplomas, master's and doctoral degrees.
Schools and Departments
Department of Anaesthesiology
Department of Clinical Oncology
Department of Diagnostic Radiology
Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care
Department of Medicine
Department of Microbiology
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Department of Ophthalmology
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Department of Pathology
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy
Department of Psychiatry
Department of Surgery
School of Biomedical Sciences
School of Chinese Medicine
School of Public Health
School of Nursing
Controversy
Scandal of former Dean in SARS plague
In early 2007, the Council of the University of Hong Kong formally accepted the resignation of Professor Lam Shiu-kum (O.B.E.), Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, with immediate effect.[10] During the 2003 SARS outbreak Lam had been publicly critical of the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH), the principal teaching hospital of the other medical school in Hong Kong, the Faculty of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong,[11] and blamed some of the difficulties which ensued[clarification needed] on the PWH (a statement felt by some others to be unfair and unhelpful). News of a possible problem relating to irregularities in the billing of patients being the underlying reason for Lam's sudden and unheralded departure may serve to weaken the moral force of some of Lam's criticisms.[clarification needed] It was acknowledged by the University of Hong Kong that Lam's resignation was a "highly unusual" event.[citation needed]
In September 2009, Lam Shiu-kum was sentenced to 25 months in jail after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office. The misconduct involved inducing 12 patients who were treated at Queen Mary Hospital, to pay what appeared to be medical bills issued by the university and the hospital between 2003 and 2007 but were payable to Gastrointestinal Research, a company wholly owned by Professor Lam.[12] He admitted pocketing almost $4 million in donations. In passing sentence, Judge Li said although the patients' well-being was not compromised and they suffered no financial losses, Lam had seriously breached the trust of both the faculty and his patients. Setting a starting point of five years jail, the judge deducted 35 months for Professor Lam's guilty plea, his good character and the fact that he had repaid all the money. Professor Lam earlier pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in public office, but denied more than 30 charges of theft and fraud. The prosecution had agreed not to proceed with those charges.[13]
Renaming of the faculty
As one of the founding faculties of the University of Hong Kong, the Faculty of Medicine changed to its present name after securing a pledge of a HK$ 1 billion donation from businessman and philanthropist Li Ka-shing under the funding of Li Ka Shing Foundation. The renaming was objected to by many students and prominent alumni of the faculty.[14][15] Despite this, the university officially renamed the faculty on 1 January 2006.
Hong Kui Wong (黄康衢) (1876-1961). He graduated from Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1900. He moved to Singapore in 1900 and practiced Western medicine there, while participating in the Chinese Revolution with Dr. Sun Yat-Sen as one of the key members of the Nanyang Branch of Tongmenghui (中国同盟会南洋分会).[16][17]
^"History". British Medical Association (Hong Kong Branch). Retrieved 10 August 2014.
^Sweeting, Anthony. (1990). Education in Hong Kong, pre-1841 to 1941. HK University Press. ISBN962-209-258-6
^ abThe University of Hong Kong. (2003). 'Growing with Hong Kong: The University and its Graduates, the first 90 years'. ISBN962-209-613-1
^Starling, Arthur. Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Society. Hong Kong Museum of Medical
Sciences Society Staff. (2006). Hong Kong University. ISBN962-209-805-3
