SCOE - Reaching Out Beyond Borders

The Standing Committee of Exchange (SCOE) had great activities planned for this year! We arranged medical students from HKU and CUHK to go abroad over the summer for clerkships to these countries:

We have already had students from Denmark and Panama attaching at Queen Mary Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital. In January, Victoria from Denmark attached to the Surgery Department of the Prince of Wales Hospital for month. During her stay, we introduced different aspects of the Chinese culture to her. We had ‘nian gao’ with her to celebrate Chinese New Year. She enjoyed her stay very much and said that she had a great exchange here.

“I had fun during our get-togethers and I especially liked that we had leen go”

 

In February, Stanley from Panama came to Queen Mary Hospital and he also attached to the Department of Surgery. He enjoyed his time watching different operations especially pediatric surgeries. 

In addition to exchanges, there is a Bangladesh Pen Friend Program which has just begun. Students from both The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The University of Hong Kong had the opportunity to share their ideas and experiences in medical school with other medical students from Bangladesh. This is a wonderful chance to know more about the culture of another country and their medical education system.

 

New exchange system and harvest during GA08
Jamaica, with beach and beauty, sun and water, is one of the best places for a vacation. But besides pleasure, Man Hon, Anne and I were there for contract signing. If you ask any SCOE member how we prepared for the General Assembly (GA) in Jamaica and for our new system, I bet all of us can tell you a long story of sleepless nights. This year’s GA marks the start of a brand new era in AMSAHK history - signing 2010 exchange contracts in 2008. This is something no country has ever done before.

Unlike other countries, Hong Kong has only 2 medical schools, leading to a very limited amount of exchange places. That is why many a time application forms are handed in too late. We hope that by implementing the new system, it will solve the problem of late submission.

 

As IFMSA exchanges are only clinical exchanges, pre-clinical year students would have very little chance of exchanging. Therefore, this year, SCOE would like to cultivate a new exchange in AMSAHK – AMSEP bilateral Pre-clinical exchange. The exchanges is planned to take place during the semester, so that foreign students can have a savor of Hong Kong’s medical education. At the same time, our students will leave for exchange during summer, while it is still term time for other countries.

 

Exchange to Taiwan
Last year, we are fortunate to have Taiwan NTU accepting our students. Olivia Hui, our Director of Exchange, is one of the participants. This year, we are striving our best and compromising with the faculty to allow Taiwan pre-clinical students to come to Hong Kong.

Exchange has been contributing to why AMSAHK is an international organization, not merely a local serving group. We envisage that through expanding our exchanges, our students can have greater chances of having more exposure. “It takes more than a medical school and books to become a good doctor”.

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