The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, and the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, co-chaired a meeting today (December 4) to receive a briefing from the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Professor Nancy Ip, and her team on the next steps for implementing the establishment of the new medical school. Government representatives attending the meeting were from the Health Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, the Development Bureau, the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority, the University Grants Committee Secretariat, and the Primary Health Commission.

     The Government earlier announced that the Chief Executive in Council (CE-in-Council) had approved in principle that the new medical school to be established by the HKUST, marking a new phase in the preparatory work for the new medical school. The Task Group on New Medical School will support and closely monitor the work in the implementation stage to ensure that the HKUST achieves the set milestones in a progressive manner. Working groups will be set up under the Task Group to provide advice and support in areas such as curriculum development, financial and financing arrangements, staffing, campus development, and teaching hospital arrangements, and experts with relevant experience in the respective fields will be invited to participate in the work of the working groups. The Government will require the HKUST to regularly report progress to and seek views from the working groups and report to the Task Group as necessary. 

     Professor Lo said, "At today's meeting, we exchanged views on the overall work direction for the implementation stage of establishing the medical school. We support the HKUST to push forward various preparatory tasks, and the Task Group will regularly meet with the university representatives starting from the first quarter of next year to understand the progress. The Government expects to officially sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the HKUST early next year, the content of which will cover funding arrangements, curriculum accreditation, teaching hospital resources, as well as recruitment of teaching staff, and more. We expect the HKUST to fully co-operate with the Task Group and its working groups on the preparatory work."

     Dr Choi said, "The establishment of the new medical school is expected to play a leading role in shaping innovative approaches to medical education by embracing interdisciplinary learning, advancing scientific research development, and attracting both local and international talent, to dovetail with the national blueprint of the 2024-2035 master plan on building China into a leading country in education and the vision of building Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub. We are confident that the new medical school will actively foster collaboration within the Greater Bay Area through its strategic location in the Northern Metropolis and serve as an academic and research powerhouse in the region, contributing to the development of a robust and forward-thinking healthcare workforce."

     The Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address that the Government supports the establishment of the third medical school by a local university, with a view to nurturing more outstanding medical practitioners to support the local healthcare system in providing quality services, while at the same time promoting the development of Hong Kong into an international medical training, research and innovation hub. The Task Group was established in October 2024, comprising seasoned local, Mainland and overseas academics in medical education and university management, professionals, representatives from the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, as well as representatives from the relevant government bureaux and departments. It is responsible for inviting universities to submit proposals and conducting assessments, making recommendations to the CE-in-Council, and maintaining communication with the university selected to establish the new medical school on the implementation plan. In November this year, the CE-in-Council approved the establishment of the third medical school and gave approval-in-principle for the new medical school to be established by the HKUST, which shall aim to admit the first cohort of 50 students in the 2028/29 academic year. The HKUST must obtain in-principle approval from the MCHK for the accreditation of its medical curriculum before the commencement of student admission.

Ends/Thursday, December 4, 2025
Issued at HKT 18:26

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