The Government today announced the establishment of the Special Registration Committee in accordance with the amended Medical Registration Ordinance and the appointment of Prof Grace Tang as the committee chairperson.

Chan Wing-kai, Tennessy Hui and Anthony Wu are appointed as the committee members.

The appointments are for three years from November 15.

Prof Tang, Mr Chan and Ms Hui will join the committee in their capacity as the Medical Council of Hong Kong members. Their term of office as committee members will cease when they are no longer members of the council.

Apart from the four members appointed by the Chief Executive, there are also six ex-officio members in the committee.

As a statutory body under the Medical Council of Hong Kong, the committee is responsible for determining the list of recognised medical qualifications after reviewing programmes offered by non-local medical schools with quality comparable to those provided by the two medical schools in Hong Kong.

It will submit the list to the Registrar of Medical Practitioners, i.e. the Director of Health, for promulgation.

Non-locally trained doctors who possess the recognised medical qualifications, subject to their fulfilment of certain criteria, may apply for special registration to practice in public healthcare institutions.

After serving for a certain period, obtaining recognised specialist qualifications and passing stringent assessment, they would be granted full registration to practice in Hong Kong.

The Government expects the committee to determine the first batch of recognised medical qualifications within the first half of next year to allow qualified non-locally trained doctors to serve in public healthcare institutions in Hong Kong under special registration.

Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan said given Prof Tang's wealth of experience in medical education and public service, she is confident that the committee is capable of discharging its statutory duties effectively under her leadership and will be able to draw up the list of recognised medical qualifications as soon as possible.

Click here for the membership list.