Manpower

Shortly after I heard about the behaviour of students from the other side of the harbour, we held the clinical examination for the medical council.

As always, I shall not tell you what happened in the examination. However, during the coffee break, my friend VW made a succinct comment: Are we expecting many new doctors in the near future?

No, I don't think it was a question. I nodded and said, "Absolutely. There are more and more graduates from overseas coming back for practice. Two years later, we are expecting over 200 graduates from each local medical school. Moreover, our government is beginning to defer the age of retirement from 60 to 65. I am fair sure the Hospital Authority will follow suit, and many senior clinicians will hang around for 5 more years.”

“Could HA hire so many doctors?”

“That’s the question,” I said, “I suspect our government would put the money on infra-structure and construction, and the expenditure in health care would thin out..."