Changes to registration for Hong Kong dentists, including internships, ‘historic’: minister
- Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau says amendments also include limited registration and special registration for dentists trained outside city
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the changes were a “historic moment” for the profession and the first major alterations to the legislation governing dentists in decades.
“The amendment bill is Hong Kong’s first large-scale and thorough amendment on the city’s dentist registration ordinance in more than 60 years,” Lo said.
He was speaking after the Dentists Registration (Amendment) Bill, which has been scrutinised by the legislature since April, was passed by lawmakers after the second and third readings were done on the same day.
The bill introduced two other major changes to the ordinance in addition to the one-year internship arrangement for Hong Kong dental graduates or an assessment for dentists trained elsewhere.
There will also be new pathways to limited registration and special registration, similar to the current system for doctors, for dentists trained elsewhere in a bid to increase the number of professionals amid a shortage.
