The Enrichment Year, which had its first cohort in 2018/19, provides all Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students with a full year of life-enhancing experiences that make them more independent, more mature and ready to take charge. Meanwhile, the new four-year MBBS (Graduate Entry) track, to be launched in September, offers a pathway into medicine for degree-holders with a strong passion and aspiration to become doctors. It offers the same professional core components and assessment requirements as the accredited six-year MBBS programme, and an opportunity to diversify our student body to better serve Hong Kong’s varied patient population. Students of the new track can also opt to delve deeper into medical discovery through the Master of Research in Medicine (MRes[Med]), to work with world-class researchers and position themselves to become future clinician-scientists. Professor Chak-sing Lau, Vice-President & Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health) and Dean of Medicine, has been a driving force behind these initiatives and believes that patients will ultimately benefit. ‘Medicine is advancing rapidly and so are Hong Kong’s needs for medical professionals. HKUMed keeps our programmes under constant review to ensure we can meet those needs. A key aim for us is to give our students opportunities for personal and professional development, alongside the rigorous education we provide. ‘The maturity and broader perspectives they acquire will benefit patients, research, medicine as a whole, and the students themselves,’ he said. ‘We are striving to address that need by providing talent who are highly competent and compassionate and by meeting the aspirations of young people to pursue meaningful careers in medicine.’ Professor Chak-sing Lau 5 HKUMed News Summer 2025
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