President Address 2021

Dear Fellows and Trainees,

It is a privilege for me to prepare this year’s president address.

2020-2021 has been an extraordinarily difficult year for the entire society and no doubt for our new fellows. The adversity which they have had to overcome to get to this stage of their professional careers is admirable in itself.

COVID-19 has posed an unprecedented challenge to the world since its emergence in early 2020. The pandemic has inflicted detrimental effects on the society and has equally affected everyone. Undoubtedly the past few years have been one of the most turbulent time in the history of Hong Kong. During the uncertainties, our working environment and our role as medical practitioners have never been more challenging.

While we may not have predicted the shifting paradigm of working and online learning, our resilience has prepared us to seize opportunities and face challenges. Indeed, the College has accomplished a lot outside of this unprecedented event. For example,  we did not cancel any College examinations. Most training activities have continued with modifications to accommodate online participation and knowledge delivery. Ground rules have therefore been set to ensure reasonable participation in online activities for granting of CME/CPD. Despite most of the activities and meetings being  conducted virtually, I am proud to say that all of them were well managed and operated smoothly. The College has been able to maintain its professional roles and functions with the cooperation and support from all of you, fellows and trainees.

For professional development, various enhancements in the e-Portfolio have been implemented to align the updates in training curriculum and program, including research requirements and implementation of entrustable professional activities. We have also adopted a skill-based training approach which can enhance our trainee engagement as well as trainer-trainee interaction. Research and innovation are cornerstones to furthering improvements in our profession. In this connection, a new Research Taskforce was set up in January 2021. As an advisory body, the Research Taskforce has come up with strategic plans to foster collaboration among stakeholders and to promulgate research initiatives. COVID-19 has a significant impact on how we interact with others and the associated challenges can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotion. In view of this, a taskforce on physicians’ wellbeing has been formed to support the development for physician’s well-being including promotion of the awareness and a culture of seeking help. The plans devised by the two taskforces are under review by the Council and the recommended initiatives will be rolled out in the near future.

While we strive to continually improve the Emergency Medicine development and well-being support for our colleagues, we also endeavour to support our community with our expertise in prehospital management. This year marks the 20th year of our collaboration with Government Flying Services and I am pleased to report that a new Memorandum of Understanding will be signed this year to foster a more strategic and cooperative partnership. As always, we have been actively providing professional advice to external bodies.

In December this year it will also be the first time in our history that we will organize ‘The Asian Conference on Emergency Medicine’ on a virtual platform. There will be more than 170 renowned speakers from over 21 regions/countries showcasing their expertise and experience. This is a significant achievement for our profession here in Hong Kong.

2021 also marks the 25th Anniversary of our College. I sincerely invite you to join us in the upcoming festivities and celebrations.

Standing strong for a quarter of a century is not easy and we have every reason to be very proud of this achievement! If not for the efforts of our past presidents over the last 25 years, namely Dr CHUNG Chin Hung, Dr WONG Tai Wai, Dr LAU Chor Chiu, Dr HO Hiu Fai and Dr SIU Yuet Chung Axel and their great and tireless work, the development of Emergency Medicine in Hong Kong would not be where it is today.

Thank you very much.

Dr. Clara Wu