The Medical Faculty was the earliest tertiary education faculty to be established in Hong Kong. Created out of the Hong Kong College of Medicine, which was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it became the first Faculty when The University of Hong Kong was opened in 1912. Since its origins in 1887, the Faculty has played a pioneering role in medical education and training. The Faculty has constantly updated its undergraduate programmes to take account of new developments in medical and health sciences, educational technology and professional requirements, with the goal of maintaining the high standards and professional recognition it is proud to have achieved. In 2004 the Faculty took the initiative to establish an Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education (IMHSE) to promote excellence, professionalism, innovation and collaboration (EPIC) in medical and health sciences education.
The Faculty comprises 16 departments, an Eye Institute, a School of Chinese Medicine, and a School of Nursing. The 16 teaching departments in the Faculty are: Anaesthesiology, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Clinical Oncology, Community Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Medicine, Microbiology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Pathology, Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Physiology, Psychiatry and Surgery. These Departments are located either in the Faculty of Medicine Building on Sassoon Road or in the Queen Mary Hospital on Pokfulam Road. The Queen Mary Hospital is the regional hospital for Hong Kong Island and is also a regional centre of international reputation for training teachers in medical and dental schools in neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia.
The Faculty has demonstrated a strong research capability in a wide range of areas covering both basic and clinical sciences, and has won international recognition for many of its achievements.
The Faculty provides many kinds of community services. It conducts educational programmes in health and medicine and gives professional advice to both the public and the private sectors in Hong Kong. It also exchanges experience and knowledge with medical schools and institutions in Mainland China and neighbouring countries, and contributes to international professional societies and organisations such as the World Health Organization.