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As
a major discipline in a medical school the history of the Department
of Medicine is inseparable from that of the Medical Faculty and
the University of Hong Kong. Before the appointment of a full
time professor in 1923 the teaching of medicine in the Hong Kong
College of Medicine (1887-1911), and later within the ambit of
the University of Hong Kong, was undertaken by part-time staff
who were medical officers in government service or experienced
doctors in private practice. Needless to say, such piecemeal arrangements
for teaching were far from satisfactory. A donation from the Rockefeller
Foundation led to the appointment of John Anderson as Founding
Professor and enabled the Department of Medicine to be formally
established in 1923. For a brief period leading up to the Second
World War, Professor W J Gerrard became the head. The early years
of the Department, like that of the Faculty of Medicine and the
University, were plagued by uncertainties, as funding depended
largely on fees and private donations. From time to time the Faculty
was under threat of having to close down due to lack of funds.
The
number of medical students was small, about 16 graduates a year
at around the outbreak of the Second World War. The department
was also extremely small, consisting of a full time professor
and one or two assistants. Much of the clinical teaching was delegated
to part-time staff. Only the top students had the honour of being
appointed as assistants, all of whom were excellent and dedicated
teachers. Regrettably, the professor had no control over the use
of beds in any hospital where teaching took place (the Nethersole
Hospital or the Government Civil Hospital). Access to patients
had to be negotiated and depended on the goodwill of Government
medical officers. It was not until 1936 that beds in the Government
Civil Hospital were formally allocated to the Department in exchange
for the provision of clinical service. This was the beginning
of the inseparable link between teaching and clinical service
as the main functions of the clinical departments. When Queen
Mary Hospital opened its doors in the following year and the Department
of Medicine was allocated more beds in the new hospital, the staff
were jubilant thinking that they would have a firm base to teach
and to engage in meaningful research. However, their jubilance
was short-lived because of the onslaught of the Second World War.
The entire University including the Department closed down from
Christmas 1941 to mid 1945 when Hong Kong was occupied by the
Japanese.
When
peace came and the University resumed operation in late 1945,
a Government consultant at Queen Mary Hospital, P B Wilkinson,
doubled up as acting Professor of Medicine, a post he held for
two years before the war. In 1948, the University appointed a
Glasgow University graduate, A J S McFadzean to the Chair and
headship of the Department.
Department
Heads, HKU
formerly known
as University Medical Unit (UMU) till 1995, where upon it merged
with the then Government
Medical Unit (GMU) to formally establish the Department
of Medicine, HKU, QMH.
Click
on the hyperlinks below to read the history of the Department
under each headship:-
Chiefs
of Service, QMH
- Professor
Tai-Kwong Chan (1992 -1995)
- Professor
Shiu-Kum Lam (1995 - 2001)
- Professor
Kar-Neng Lai (2001 - present)
Heads,
Government Medical Unit (GMU)
- Dr
Gerald H. Choa
- Dr
K.H. Chin
- Dr
Michael T.S. Tsang
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