Overseas returnees guard hospital frontline: case 2

Dr Chan considers his professional development as one of the reasons that prompted him to return to Hong Kong.

Anthony Chan: Teamwork key to victory for patient care

Having lived in Australia for 20 years, Anthony Chan has worked in internal medicine and nephrology for 12 years before returning to Hong Kong to work as a Resident in the Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) Medicine and Geriatrics Department under limited registration.

“Born and bred in Hong Kong, I completed Form 7 before going to Australia. This is my home and I love it. I heard a lot from news about problems of the healthcare system in Hong Kong when I was down under. From another perspective, there is plenty of room for improvement and development. Why don’t I contribute what I learned overseas to Hong Kong? I always pondered.” Anthony started planning to return to Hong Kong two years before he completed renal specialist training.

“The only difference between a limited registration doctor and other medical staff is that I am a reliever and have to work in different units such as palliative care, Community Geriatric Assessment Team and rehabilitation when my colleagues are on leave.”

Dr Chan is planning to sit for local licensing examination so that he can practise in Hong Kong as a fully registered doctor. “Though Hong Kong was a Commonwealth state similar to Australia before the change of sovereignty in 1997, the hospitals differ a lot in various aspects. I indeed had culture shock when I first worked in CMC, but my colleagues are great and help me settle down very quickly. As it said in Sun Tze (The Art of War), victory comes only when all team members share the same spirit. My humble wish is to develop my expertise in my native land, join hands with my colleagues to serve patients in Hong Kong.”