Dear Fellows and Members,

May this communication bring you Greetings of the Season and wishes for a productive and successful 2005.

This communication is my first as your President. I have just taken up the Presidency in October 2004 from our previous President, Professor Richard Yu. I anticipate the challenge and hard work ahead of me following the footsteps of our previous presidents.

During the last six years serving the Council as the vice-president, I have observed the progress of our College in setting a leading standard in training and the implement of practice-related skill assurance within the Academy. Perhaps in the next three years, my first objective is to consolidate these novel developments that our College has achieved in the last few years. The second important objective is to ensure training programs and physician manpower are updated periodically and these information are available to trainees and Fellows regularly through Synapse and from our College website. The third objective of the College is introducing a new information technology system such as CME/CPD activities and training records can be accessed electronically in the near twelve months. Lastly, the College is actively restructuring the annual and exit examinations for all subspecialties. Our target is to ensure all questions are planned, selected, tailored, and well-orientated to daily common medical problems hence formulating an objective structural examination as in PACES. This will serve as a comprehensive and fair examination for high physician trainees.

The College was established as the sole institution to set standards, accredit standards, and monitor the standards of training and practice of physicians in Hong Kong. In many aspects, the novelty and initiatives of our approach in training have spearheaded the development in the Academy of Medicine and other sister colleges. Furthermore, our close relationship with other Physician Colleges worldwide enables our College to adopt a cosmopolitan attitude in practicing the art of healing and the science of medicine. A universal and holistic approach to medicine must be the guiding principles for us to achieve our objectives irrespective of and in spite of political challenges. We will work closely with the Academy of Medicine, the Medical Council and the Hospital Authority as partners to gain the profession's support and the community's respect. The College continues to advocate good doctor-patient rapport and we will be stringent in maintaining the highest professional standard. Yet we do not encourage the proliferation of medico-legal litigation, often initiated due to inadequate communication, misunderstanding, or unreasonable expectation. This, the College is seeking to do more through involvement in different government statutory and advisory bodies, and specialty societies to ensure that the community will be given the knowledge of development as well as limitation of modern medicine.

Looking back at the last 4 years, I am proud to say that despite the unexpected emergence of SARS, avian flu, and dengue fever and other diseases, Hong Kong through her solid foundation in medical education, has remained one of the few regions providing excellent and advanced medical care with maximal cost-effectiveness.

It has always been our belief that the College must not only be internationally recognized but also produce international impact. The College is a leading member of the IACAP (International Association of College and Academy Presidents). Our Council members sit in the Policy and Examination Boards of the MRCP(UK) examination. Our College has recently provided external examiners for the specialist qualification examination in Macau. I believe this is only the beginning of our new course in international medicine.

On behalf of the new College Council, I look forward to all Fellows and Members to give their utmost to support your College.

Professor K.N. Lai
January 1, 2005