Seminars and Interview Sessions

Applying to Medical Schools in the UK

When should you start preparing, if you’re aiming to apply for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine in the UK? If you’re applying through UCAS, not only that you have to have the right grades in the right subjects, you will also have to meet the much earlier deadline in October. In addition to good grades in public exams, most medical schools will also require one of the BMAT and UCAT examinations as part of their entry requirement. And it’s almost essential that you have a certain amount of relevant job shadowing or voluntary work experience. If you include all of these, it’d normally take two years for preparation, if not longer!

Olga Hill will kick start the seminar with an overview of the application procedures of UK medical schools. These will include application timeline, entry requirements, application documents, the Multi-Mini Interview (MMI) and other useful information. Drawing from his own experience, Johnson will also share how he prepared for his successful application!

Studying Medicine: How is the 5-Year Medicine programme structured? How will the university support students during the Clinical Years? What’s the toughest bit about studying Medicine?

A five-year Medicine programme typically includes the initial pre-clinical years that last for three years, followed by two clinical years where students would spend more time on placement in hospitals.

In the section, Olga will use their own MBChB programmes in Bristol Medical School as an example, to show you the course structure of a typical Medicine prorgamme. These will include practical things about the clinical years, teaching facilities, etc. And Johnson of course will compliment the section by sharing his valuable experience during his time in Bristol!

The Foundation Programme & Specialist Training:

Medicine graduates in the UK will begin their hospital internship in what’s called the Foundation Programme, after which they will go on to specialist training: training as a General Practitioner (GP) takes three years, while other specialisms could take five to eight years.

Doctors going through training are generally called junior doctors. Once graduated from medical school, students will be awarded provisional registration status. And they will be awarded full registration status upon completing the first year of the Foundation Programme – and therefore eligible to apply for special registration to practise in public healthcare institutions in Hong Kong.

Returning to & Practising in Hong Kong: How can one better prepare for the MCHK Licensing Examination? Why did Johnson choose to return to Hong Kong, when he also has the option to continue practising in the UK? How are hospitals in the UK and Hong Kong different?

With the passing of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, UK-trained medicine graduates with permanent Hong Kong residence can apply for special registration to practise in public healthcare institutions in Hong Kong (ie. the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong). They will be awarded full registration in Hong Kong, five years after they completed specialist training.

Graduates with a recognised medical qualification, but haven’t proceeded with the Foundation Programme can do so, but only after passing the MCHK Licensing Examination. The three-part licensing examination consists of Examination in Professional Knowledge, Proficiency Test in Medical English and Clinical Examination. According to latest statistics (2018, 2019), UK and Australian graduates performed the best in these examinations – with pass rates of 53% ^{(overall pass rate: 27%)}, 100% ^(83%) and 51% ^(42%) respectively.

In this secton, Johnson will share his experience in the NHS and his successful experience with the licensing examination. How’s it like working in a hospital in Britain? Having worked in hospitals in both places now, what would he compare hospitals in two places? Which was the toughest part for him in the Licensing Examination? What advices would he give to current Medicine students who are considering returning to Hong Kong to practise?