Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Chinese Medicine Practitioners Licensing Examination
Following is a question by the Hon Albert Ho and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(May 20):
Question:
Regarding the eligibility of graduates of Chinese medicine courses to take the
Chinese Medicine Practitioners (CMP) Licensing Examination, will the Government
inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the considerations of the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board under the
Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong in listing "having satisfactorily
completed a full-time on campus degree course with duration of not less than 5
years" as a requirement for taking the CMP Licensing Examination, and if there
is any other region which has adopted similar requirements for CMP licensing
examinations or any other profession which has adopted similar requirements for
licensing examinations; and
(b) if there is any Chinese medicine course, which is currently offered by a
local tertiary institution, whose graduates are not eligible to take the CMP
Licensing Examination; if so, the current number of such graduates, as well as
their placement rate and the professions in which they were engaged at the end
of the year of their graduation?
Reply:
President,
(a) In accordance with the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (CMO), the registration
system for Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs) in Hong Kong was implemented in
2000. The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong is the regulatory body set up
under the CMO. Its Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board (the Practitioners
Board) is responsible for regulating the CMPs in Hong Kong.
Section 59 of the CMO stipulates that the Practitioners Board shall conduct a
Chinese Medicine Practitioners Licensing Examination (the Licensing
Examination), the passing of which shall qualify a person to apply to be a
registered CMP. According to the CMO, listed CMPs and those who have
satisfactorily completed the undergraduate degree course of training in Chinese
medicine practice or its equivalent as is approved by the Practitioners Board,
are eligible to undertake the Licensing Examination.
The quality of CMPs has a direct impact on people's health. As such, the
Practitioners Board considers that students of approved courses who are eligible
to undertake the Licensing Examination should have received comprehensive and
fundamental university education. The students should also have been provided
with adequate opportunity to practise continuously in order to complete all the
relevant training and experiments with a long period of clinical training and
internship. Given that other local healthcare professions (e.g. medical
practitioners and dentists) have adopted full-time undergraduate degree course
as the training mode and the registration requirement, the Practitioners Board
considers that the full-time mode of education should be adopted for the
approved courses for the Licensing Examination.
The Practitioners Board, pursuant to its function as conferred on it by the CMO,
set down the basic requirements of an approved course for the Licensing
Examination in the light of the above considerations. An approved course should
be a full-time undergraduate degree course in Chinese medicine with duration of
not less than five years, including a clinical internship of not less than 30
weeks and 10 compulsory subjects on Chinese medicine specified by the
Practitioners Board. In addition, the institutions conducting the course must
fulfill the basic requirements of university and clinical teaching in terms of
teaching condition, teaching/practical exercise facilities, education
management, library information, teacher qualifications, admission standard and
clinical training, etc. These requirements were announced well in advance in
2002 for compliance and observance by institutions.
(b) In accordance with the requirements set down for an approved course for the
Licensing Examination as mentioned above, the full-time undergraduate degree
courses in Chinese medicine offered by three local universities, namely the
University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong
Baptist University, are recognised by the Practitioners Board as approved
courses for the Licensing Examination.
We are aware that a range of full-time or part-time courses in Chinese medicine,
including various certificate and diploma programmes, are offered by a number of
tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. It should be noted that, unless these
programmes can fulfill the basic requirements of an approved course and have
been approved by the Practitioners Board, their graduates are not eligible to
undertake the Licensing Examination.
Since the Licensing Examination was first conducted in 2003, there have been a
total of 62 students of local Chinese medicine courses whose applications for
undertaking the Licensing Examination have been declined. These applicants
include those who have not satisfactorily completed an approved course or those
who have completed a course which has not been approved by the Practitioners
Board. We do not maintain detailed statistical data and the placement
information in respect of these applicants. The Practitioners Board has reminded
all institutions that they have to make clear to students enrolling in courses
which have not been approved by the Practitioners Board that they will not be
eligible to undertake the Licensing Examination upon completion of the courses.
Ends/Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 11:59
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