From: wan@khan.cs.wisc.edu (Wan-Ching Law)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.hongkong
Subject: Re: Hospitals/medicine in HK
Date: 15 Oct 92 02:53:53 GMT
Article-I.D.: daffy.1992Oct15.025353.28213
Organization: Undergraduate Projects Lab, UW Madison


Hi
 
I am a nursing student and I have lived in Hong Kong for 18 years.  
Hopefully I would be able to help you with your questions.

>1. What is the practice of medicine like in Hong Kong? Being a British
>colony, I would expect that the delivery of health care is along the
>lines of the British system. Are most people covered by private insurance,
>public/state insurance, or just not covered at all? Are there people
>that deliver health care outside of the traditional doctor/nurse/clinic/
>hospital system?

In Hong Kong, very few people have medical insurance cos' the medical
expense is really not very hugh.  The government subsdides a great
part of the health care cost for the people there.  Unless you go to
a private doctor/clinic/hospital, the charge would not be too bad.
One or two years ago, there is the development of this department
that control all the hospitals.  So now the hospital system is really
much more organized and things are under better control.  However, due
to lots of patient and lack of facilities, the health care providers
really work much harder there.  If you want to know more about the working
condition, email me privately and I will explain that to you.

>2. Are there health concerns specific to Hong Kong that would not be seen
>in any other Western urban setting? My guess is that Hong Kong would have
>a different spectrum of infectious or tropical disease that would not be
>common here in the US.

You are absolutely right.  The ones that I could think of right out of
my mind are Hepatitis A & B, Malaria, and certainly more TB carriers(the
ones with positive skin test).

>3. I don't speak Cantonese, and speak a little Mandarin. I don't read
>Chinese at all. Would this be a real problem for everyday living? If
>I go to Hong Kong, I expect to stay for about a month.

If you speak English, I think you will be fine.  :)  However, it would
really be hard for you to see patients because I would think most
middle age and elderly people there don't speak English.  I don't know
how you can communicate with them.

>4. This question may sound really stupid, but.... Are there rural areas
>of Hong Kong? And if so, are there local clinics, or do the people have to
>go into the city for health care? My impression of Hong kong is based
>solely on a few days' worth of sight seeing and from watching John Woo
>and Jackie Chan films.
 
Yes, there is a large area in HK called the New Territories and there are
also lots of small islands there.  As I remember, there are local clinics
(very small and limited) at different locations.  So, I would think the
access of health care is not a big problem cos' HK is really not a big
place.  Public transportation is so good that you can almost go anywhere
without a car.  Oh, by the way, don't expect to drive there...  :)

Well, I hope this little reply would help you.  I wonder what school in
HK are you planning to go to for your clinical rotation.  CUHK or HKU?
I have studied in CUHK Medical school for a little while.  It is fun.
I really want to go back to Medical school someday.  Hope you can help
me with that later on..... :)
 
Yours sincerely,
Wan Ching