The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Tuesday gave the nod for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to set up the SAR’s third medical school, with the first batch of 50 medical students to be admitted in 2028.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the university’s proposal, approved by the chief executive and the Executive Council, is of a clear strategic positioning and a broad global perspective.
The HKUST and the government will split the cost of building the school, as well as operating expenses, for the next 25 years, with the university fully sponsoring HK$2 billion ($256 million) to build the school complex building in Clearwater Bay, Sai Kung District.
The first batch of 50 students is expected to graduate in 2032.
Lo said he hoped the new medical facility can foster synergistic innovation with Hong Kong’s existing two medical schools, thereby creating a cumulative effect to further enhance the standard of medical research and education in the long term, and advancing the goal of making the city an international health and medical innovation hub.
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Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said that medical students represent a critical component of specialized human resource planning. Therefore, the government will pay close attention to enrollment trends, including the proportion of local and non-local students.
Regarding concerns about admission requirements for non-local students and potential language barriers upon arrival in Hong Kong, Choi said that the university will organize related language courses.
The Health Bureau also emphasized that communication skills are essential for doctors, and Hong Kong, as an international city, aspires for medical personnel to be biliteracy and trilingualism. The third medical school will adapt in this regard, and may establish specific entrance requirements and consider integrating language skills into its curriculum.
The university thanked the government for its decision, and said that the new medical school will utilize HKUST's distinctive strengths, including its international character and global networks, to attract top talent and create a world-class learning environment.
It aims to cultivate a new breed of medical professionals who are ethically grounded, clinically outstanding, and technologically adept. By directly integrating the university’s expertise in data science, AI, and robotics into the curriculum, the school will equip future doctors with cutting-edge skills.
Hospital Authority (HA) Chairman, Henry Fan Hung-ling, said that HA will dovetail with the policy direction of the Health Bureau to fully support the HKUST in developing its medical school, as well as continuing to support the two existing medical schools in training medical students. He said that more healthcare professionals with integrity and talent will be nurtured in the three medical schools.
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Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu proposed in his Policy Address last year that, besides increasing training places from the existing two medical schools, the government supports the plan by local universities to establish a third medical school.
The government will set aside sites at Ngau Tam Mei, within the innovation and technology zone of the Northern Metropolis, to develop the new medical school campus and build an integrated medical teaching and research hospital. According to the Development Proposal of Ngau Tam Mei that the government submitted to LegCo last year, the hospital will be a 15-minute walk from Ngau Tam Mei station.
