Hong Kong College of Family Physicians

This is a very special year for our Hong Kong Primary Care Conference as it was held together with the bi-annual 4-Party (Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China & Taiwan) General Practice/Family Medicine Conference on June 6-9, 2014. Primary care is the work of healthcare professionals who act as the first point of consultation for all patients. Central to the concept of primary care is the patient. It involves the widest scope of health care, including care for patients of all ages and all socioeconomic groups; patients seeking to maintain optimal health, and patients with a wide spectrum of presentations of acute and chronic physical, mental and social health issues. These also include multiple chronic diseases. Family physicians provide not only services commonly recognized as primary care, but are also coordinators of the overall healthcare services for our patients. Primary care strives to achieve health equity. This year, the Organizing Committee has chosen “With the Patients, For the Patients – Achieving Health Equity in Primary Care” as the theme of the conference. This conference served as a platform to address present and future challenges, and provided an opportunity for family doctors in the region to network and learn. The conference was a great success - also it was well attended by over 500 participants. I would like to thank our organizing committee and secretariat led by the co-chairmen Dr. Lorna Ng and Dr. William Wong for their dedication and hard work; the sponsors of the Conference; and the leaders in Family Medicine of all four parties for their support to make this Conference possible.

The first World Family Doctor Day was declared and celebrated on 19 May 2010. It has been taken up with enthusiasm around the world, offering us an opportunity to celebrate what we do. This initiative provides recognition to family doctors, as well as highlights important issues and the work we perform in supporting health care for all people in our local communities, our nations and around the world. This year, our College co-organized the event「我的家庭醫生」啟播禮 with the Primary Care Office (PCO) of the Department of Health and the Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). The 5-episode TV Drama series aim to promote family medicine with TV broadcasting from 24 May 2014 onwards for five consecutive Saturdays at 7:30 - 8:00 pm. The Public Education Committee also participated in the event with a patient on stage together to illustrate the importance and value of the continuous and person-centred care by a family doctor. I am deeply grateful to the Food & Health Bureau, PCO, RTHK and our Public Education Committee team members, including Dr. Allan Ngan, Dr. Mark Chan, Dr. Amy Chan, Dr. Loretta Chan, Dr. Lambert Chan, Dr. Cheung Kwok Leung, Dr. Zabo Chung, Dr. Ken Ho, Dr. Timothy Hong, Dr. Lam Wing Wo, and Dr. Dana Lo for making this possible.

The Public Education Committee led by Dr. Allan Ngan and his committee members delivers health education to the public through various channels including regular publications in various newspapers. Their hard work has greatly promoted our College’s mission to the public. Besides this TV drama series, the Public Education Committee also published the fourth book 家庭醫生一百篇 this year in June following the success of the three books in 家庭醫學手冊 series. The book is a collection of selected articles published regularly in the Hong Kong Economic Journal (信報) and the “We Care Magazine” (關心). I would like to thank the editorial team of Public Education Committee and the authors to make it successful.

Following last year’s success of our Diploma in Family Medicine course in Macau, with the vision of the Macau Health Bureau to strengthen family medicine training, the hard work of our Macau colleagues including the Chief Family Physician Dr. Chau Chi Hong, our DFM Board members, teachers, examiners and mentors under the leadership of Dr. Simon Au, our diploma course has been successfully launched in Macau. I would also like to thank Dr. Wun Yuk Tsan for his tremendous contribution to revise the course materials and his generous donation to sponsor the Macau DFM Best Candidate Award. This was a fruitful year with a record high number of DFM students. A total of 29 candidates completed the Course and were awarded the Diploma in Family Medicine.

This is the 27th year of our Conjoint Fellowship Examination with the Royal Australia College of General Practitioners. Dr. Jennie Kendrick, Censor-in-Chief and Dr. Kaye Atkinson, Censor were the visiting External Examiners from RACGP this year. I would like to thank the RACGP for her continued advice and support. I would also like to congratulate the Board of Conjoint Examination under Dr. Peter Chan and his board members for running the Examination flawlessly with their hard work, experience and wisdom. On the day of the OSCE Examination, examiners, candidates and staff worked together as a team whole-heartedly for this very important event which allows no mistake. There were 84 candidates sitting for this year’s examination, with 73 and 11 candidates of Category I and Category II, respectively. It was the tenth year that the College offered the “Best Candidate Award”. From Conjoint Examination 2013 onwards, this award was renamed “Dr. Peter C Y Lee Best Candidate Award” for commemorating Dr. Peter Lee’s contribution to the discipline of family medicine.

Family physicians have an important role in holistic care. Many of our sister Colleges, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of General Practitioners, have successfully reviewed their curriculum recently. We have also set up a working group to review our curriculum this year to best suit our community development and care delivery. With the evolving primary care environment, the ageing population, increased multi-morbidity, rise of e-health, the requirements of leadership and management, quality and safety concerns and an increasing role of teaching and research in family medicine within the context of multidisciplinary primary care, and all present educational and training challenges, updating the curriculum is the first step on the path to incorporating these skills into the lifelong learning of family physicians. Curriculum renewal is an ongoing process because of the changing environment of medicine. We hope that the knowledge of our profession’s body of learning will provide a sound basis for high quality primary care to Hong Kong.

With the consistent evidence that family physician system results in lower mortality, increased life expectancy, better self reported health, lower rates of admission to hospital, reduced health inequalities, and more affordable costs, our College strives to promote family medicine in our country. The Board of Professional Development and Services (BPDS) was established in 2010 to provide family medicine educational activities for doctors outside Hong Kong. This year, led by Dr. Lau Ho Lim, a structured Continuous Medical Education (CME) Programme was organized with Macau Health Bureau. The courses have received excellent feedback from attendants.

Our External Affairs Committee, led by Dr. Gene Tsoi, are invited by Rado Television Hong Kong (RTHK) to cohost the Programme Ad-wiser with a series of four parts on four consective Tuesdays from 1pm-2pm in January 2014. The second Oriental Family Doctor Forum was held in Shanghai on 5-6 July 2014 with the theme “A Brand New Era of Community Health: Practice and Exploration of Family Doctors’ Services”. The 2014 Forum was cohosted by the Chinese Community Health Assosciation, the Shanghai Medical Association and the Society of General Practice of Shanghai Medical Association. The Vice-President Dr. Lau Ho Lim represented the College to participate in the panel discussion chaired by Dr. Doanld Li on “Reviewing General Practice Progress in the Past Year; Blueprinting Primary Healthcare Development in Asian Pracific” with emphasis on family doctor training in China.

This year, the Specialty Board led by Dr. Wendy Tsui has passed 21 candidates in the Exit Examination 2014 and submitted 20 fellowship nominations, all approved by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine.

The Board of Education led by Dr. Mary Kwong and her board members have organized a large number of highquality educational activities with good varieties. Their excellent work represents the good tradition of our College.

I am most delighted to find that many of our trainees are interested in research. Primary care is now a WHO priority with tremendous potential in research and publications. Besides our unique experience in health care, we are also part of China, a nation with an important role in world's health with emerging primary care. Hong Kong is also part of Southeast Asia, a global microcosm with a huge diversity. Primary care research can provide answers to many common clinical questions. The Research Committee led by Dr. William Wong and his committee members will continue to promote primary care research.

The Editorial Board under Dr. David Chao and his board members, and the FP Links Committee under the Chairlady Dr. Wendy Tsui and Chief Editor Dr. Catherine Ng have worked hard to enable the quarterly publications of our journal “the Hong Kong Practitioner” and the monthly publications of our FP Links.

The Internal Affairs Committee led by Dr. David Chao has successfully organized our 36th HKCFP Annual Dinner on 7 December 2013, the 27th Fellowship Conferment Ceremony and the 25th Dr. Sun Yat Sen Oration on 8 June 2014. The Annual Dinner was well attended by 230 attendees and we are very honoured by the presence of Prof Michael Kidd - the President of Wonca and HKCFP Honorary Fellow (2009), Dr. Garth Manning – CEO of Wonca World Council, Prof. Chris van Weel – Past President of Wonca and HKCFP Honoary Fellow (2009), Dr. Maureen Baker – Chair of Council of Royal College of General Practitioners, Prof. Daniel Thuraiappah – President Elect of Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, Prof. Doris Young – HKCFP Honoray Fellow, Dr. Monica Wong – Head of Primary Care Office, Department of Health, HKSAR, Mr Andraw Lau from the Sun Tak District Min Yuen Tong of Hong, Kong, College Board/Committee members and guests. It was a great opportunity for colleagues and friends to meet.

The 27th Fellowship Conferment Ceremony and the 25th Dr. Sun Yat Sen Oration were successfully held on 8 June 2014 (Sunday). This year, the Ceremony was well attended by 252 participants, including the successful candidates of Exit Assessment, Conjoint Fellowship Examination, Diploma in Family Medicine and their families and friends, as well as invited guests and dignitaries from the Food and Health Bureau, the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority, the Universities and representatives of local and overseas academic colleges. The 25th Dr. Sun Yat Sen Oration of the HKCFP “Delivering Medical Care - Attempt to Think Out of the Box” was delivered by Prof. John C. Y. LEONG. This year, 24 HKCFP and 25 RACGP fellowships were conferred. Besides, 21 received their certificates of Exit Examination and 21 received the Diploma of Family Medicine (DFM) of our College. I would like to express my warmest welcome to the new fellows and diplomates of Family Medicine of our College. The Dr Peter CY LEE Best Candidate in the Fellowship Examination 2013 was Dr. Ho Shu Wan. The DFM Distinction Candidate was Dr. Chau Ka Vai and the Macau DFM Best Candidate was Dr. Amaral Vanessa. The Best Research 2013 was awarded to Dr. Chin Weng Yee. Her research topic is “The Epidemiology and Natural History of Depressive Disorder in Primary Care”. The Research Fellowship 2014 was awarded to Dr. Sit Wing Shan.

Many council members have also contributed through representation of our College in various professional committees including –

	Dr. Angus Chan in the Education Committee of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, CAG of Hong Kong Reference Framework for Preventive Care for Children in Primary Care Settings;
	Dr. Gene Tsoi in three Task Forces on Conceptual Model and Preventive Protocols, Primary Care Directory, Primary Care and Delivery Models, Working Group on Primary Care, WONCA International Classification Committee;
	Dr. Peter Chan in Working Group on Alcohol and Health, Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases;
	Dr. Chan Wing Yan in Advisory Group on Health Effects of Use of Internet and Screen Media Devices
	Dr. Lau Ho Lim in Task Force on Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, Self Learning Kit on Breastfeeding for Medical Professionals, Project Planning Committee, CAG of Hong Kong Reference Framework for Preventive Care for Older Adults in Primary Care Settings, and University of Hong Kong Health Services Committee;
	Dr. Billy Chiu in Subgroup on Professional Development for Primary Care Directory Enrolled Doctors and Dentists; Working Group on Defining High-Risk Medical Procedures / Practices Performing in Ambulatory Setting; Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot Programme Task Force; and the Cancer Expert Working Group (CEWG) on Cancer Prevention and Screening;
	Dr. Tony Lee in Working Group for Revision of Teaching Kit for the Exercise Prescription Project;
	Dr. David Chao in the Scientific Committee of Hong Kong International Cancer Congress;
	Dr. Mary Kwong in the Resuscitation Council of Hong Kong, etc
	Dr. Wong Mong Sze, Marcus. Occupational Health Advisory Committee

The hard work of our secretarial staff led by Ms Erica So, Business Manager Dr. Mary Kwong, House Management, Quality Assurance & Accreditation Committee under Dr. Billy Chiu, Finance Committee under Dr. Quincy Yuen, Council Member on Duty System under Dr. Tony Lee, Web & Computer Committee under Dr. Mark Chan, and Membership Committee under Dr. Chong Man Yuk has enabled the daily operation of our College.

Last but not least, I must thank my Chief Censor Prof Cindy LK Lam, Censors Dr. Stephen KS Foo and Prof Donald KT Li, and Immediate Past President Dr. Gene Tsoi for their valuable advice and guidance; my Executives Drs Angus Chan, Lau Ho Lim, Billy Chiu, Quincy Yuen, and all council members who shared a lot of the duties and assignments. I have to thank all the secretariat staff under Ms Erica So for their dedication and hard work.

Dr. Ruby S Y Lee
President

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