Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Hong Kong’s best and brightest must look beyond medical school

Hong Kong’s best and brightest must look beyond medical school

We must not allow tunnel vision and outdated notions of success to funnel top students into only pursuing careers in medicine. Our brightest young minds should look to other fields in science and technology while seeking opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.
This year’s Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education results were released recently. As has been the case for the past 10 years, the media descended on a handful of candidates who attained perfect scores, considered essential for youngsters seeking to secure a subsidised place in one of Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities.

However, what is striking is that, over the years, more than 50 per cent of those achieving perfect scores have chosen to study medicine at one of the city’s two medical schools to become a doctor. I am glad to see that bright students want to pursue a career in medicine, especially as public hospitals have been under tremendous pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a chronic shortage of doctors.

This issue is worthy of further consideration, and it might even shed light on how Hong Kong can best prepare its youngsters to expand their horizons beyond the city, given the vast potential of the mainland.

For a start, let’s try to understand why Hong Kong’s top students pick local medical schools over other academic disciplines. The answers of this year’s crop are illuminating: some say they want to be a doctor to save lives; others hope to contribute to solving the manpower problems of our healthcare system.

Those are noble aspirations, but one cannot help but wonder whether they have also considered other ways to contribute to the cause. Perhaps, instead, they could study advanced scientific and technology subjects like artificial intelligence, biochemistry or robotics, which can also help save lives.

These days, some intricate surgical procedures can be better performed by augmented reality-assisted robots. Therefore, students should not brush aside other interesting and worthwhile subjects.

Nevertheless, our public hospitals still rely on doctors and nurses to deliver healthcare services rather than robots and supercomputers. In addition to bolstering the intake of medical students and working towards a long-term technological revolution, the city should boost its scheme to bring in mainland doctors and look to attract qualified healthcare workers from overseas to solve its labour shortage.

Hopefully these high-achieving students have weighed the pros and cons and made informed decisions rather than being pressured into pursuing a medical career. Hong Kong parents often tell me this is a pathway to guaranteed success, monetary or otherwise. If these are the views of the majority, our youth could be limited by their parents’ tunnel vision.

Hong Kong is not short of courses on artificial intelligence, robotics, or technology and life science subjects, never mind the less-common subjects such as astronomy and astrophysics for bright DSE candidates to unlock their full potential.

Three of the city’s universities offer undergraduate degree courses in AI. Others run a range of undergraduate degree programmes in cutting-edge science and technology.

One cannot help but wonder why so many of our best and brightest opt for a career in medicine. If money is their primary motivation and they enter private practice or secure a lucrative job at a private hospital after completing the required period of training at a public hospital, Hong Kong’s shortage of doctors will drag on.

One factor holding back high school graduates from pursuing science, technology engineering or maths (STEM) courses could be the lack of jobs in the fields of AI, robotics or advanced computer engineering in Hong Kong. So, students wishing to get ahead in these fields should look for opportunities on the mainland, especially in the Greater Bay Area, host to many thriving and innovative science and technology sectors.

It is wonderful to be able to combine one’s passion with a career because then the rewards are much more than the salary earned. Money was certainly not on Steve Wozniak’s mind when he co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs. Yet, his hobby led to the birth of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalisation.

The point for our young people is: don’t limit your vision and be open to exploring your passion without losing sight of the future. For Hong Kong, the future is unmistakably intertwined with the mainland’s.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×