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Hong Kong should adopt the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials to
RECOMMENDATION 5
streamline examination application and medical registration procedures
Against the backdrop of the growing international mobility of doctors, streamlining the process of validating medical credentials
gained from the place of training to the place of practice has been at the forefront of facilitating applications. Medical regulatory
bodies internationally have incorporated technology to enhance the verification processes of non-locally trained doctors applying
from abroad.
Various medical regulatory bodies such as the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK and the Singapore Medical Council
(SMC) have incorporated the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) for the verification of credentials on a virtual
integrated platform. With reference to these examples, we recommend relevant authorities in Hong Kong to consider the
adoption of widely accepted and commonly used technology platforms, such as EPIC, to improve application processing times
and enhance overall application experiences of doctors.
RECOMMENDATION 6 Hong Kong should conduct a review of the Medical Council of Hong Kong Licensing
Examination to uphold fair assessment standards
Reference should be made to jurisdictions that enforce measures to ensure that the local licensing examination taken by non-
locally trained doctors is a fair assessment of doctors’ competency. For example, Australia and the UK are known to provide
comprehensive revision material and achieve standardisation between examinations administered to locally- and non-locally
trained doctors through calibration and/or provision of an identical examination.
In view of this, we recommend the MCHK to optimise the investment made towards administrating the Licensing Examination
on a bi-annual basis. Sufficient examination and administrative support should be in place, including the need for the MCHK to
uphold transparency of the scope examined in the Licensing Examination. This can be supplemented by the dissemination of
comprehensive revision materials that include reference materials, full versions of past examination papers, and an exhaustive
syllabus. Furthermore, to ensure a fair assessment of doctors’ competency, the MCHK should lift potentially discouraging
assessment practices, such as the negative marking mechanism. Another example is to allow candidates to retain passes for
respective subjects in Part III of the Licensing Examination for the next two scheduled sittings instead of requiring a candidate who
fails more than one out of four subjects in one sitting to re-sit all subjects. To further enforce fairness in examination standards,
we recommend the MCHK to mandate regular benchmarking of the Licensing Examination to ensure content validity and fairness
towards candidates. Consideration should also be given to setting up an independent examination authority staffed and governed
with international medical experts to carry out standardised professional examinations for all doctors. To optimise the assessment
of competencies and with reference to other jurisdictions like Australia, the MCHK should consider making available alternative
assessment methods for doctors, such as options to engage in workplace-based assessment and alternative measurements to
fulfil the medical English proficiency requirement in place of Part II of the Licensing Examination.
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