Undergraduate psychiatry education at CUHK

The Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was established in 1981. The CUHK undergraduate psychiatry curriculum is a 9-week course integrated into the Year 5 curriculum. Year 5 students have acquired a comprehensive foundation in biomedical sciences during the preclinical years and have commenced clinical medical and surgical training in Year 4 (Chinese University of Hong Kong 2025a). They therefore possess the foundations of doctor–patient communication skills. The psychiatry module is designed to refine these professional abilities, cultivate clinical reasoning for psychiatric practice, and underscore the centrality of mental health in holistic patient care. The curriculum employs classroom teaching, clinical bedside teaching and experiential learning (Chinese University of Hong Kong 2025b).

Classroom instruction is delivered through pre-recorded online seminars, with a viewing schedule spanning weeks 1–7 to consolidate knowledge. These sessions introduce the fundamental psychopathology of psychiatric disorders, diagnostic criteria and principles of clinical management. Complementing these are live seminars held across weeks 2–8 that emphasise interactive elements, including complex conversations and role-play exercises simulating challenging scenarios. These workshops encourage reflection on communication strategies and prepare students for clinical placements.

Bedside teaching takes place throughout weeks 1–8, during which students apply the clinical approaches and communication techniques acquired to real patients. Placements are arranged in teaching hospitals, supplemented by day visits to other public hospitals or private clinics. Each student is given the opportunity to rotate through subspecialty teams, including child and adolescent psychiatry, old age psychiatry and liaison psychiatry. Students are encouraged to follow in-patients longitudinally, and day visits provide a cross-sectional perspective on disease trajectories. Weekly small-group tutorials with designated tutors further consolidate learning through long-case presentations and discussion, integrating theoretical and practical principles.

Experiential learning consists of 1-day visits to community-based rehabilitation facilities operated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) within weeks 2–8. These include substance misuse services, sheltered workshops, halfway houses and community centres for mental wellness. Students are introduced to the scope of services, gain insight into recovery experiences and understand the importance of community psychiatry. Undergraduate psychiatry education at CUHK incorporates rotations across different clusters and subspecialties to maximise first-hand exposure to a diverse patient population. The primary objective is to enable medical students garner clinical experience and develop communication skills for future clinical practice.

The end-of-module assessment, conducted in Week 9, comprises a written examination and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). The written component includes 50 multiple choice questions and structured short-answer questions based on case vignettes. Students are expected to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the assessment, investigation, diagnosis and management of psychiatric illnesses across age groups. The OSCE requires students to complete two panels focusing on diagnostic history-taking and risk assessment in scenarios involving general adult and old age psychiatry. Candidates must provide concise summaries and answer oral questions satisfactorily. At the conclusion of Year 5, students undertake a Combined Clinical Examination that assesses their ability to integrate psychiatry with other specialty modules (e.g. obstetrics).

The above training and standard-setting will prepare medical graduates to recognise common psychiatric disorders in general practice and provide a foundation for those seeking to apply to psychiatry residency programmes.

Broader landscape of psychiatry education in Hong Kong – postgraduate psychiatry training

Postgraduate psychiatry training and education in Hong Kong place a strong emphasis on clinical experience and broad exposure, as in undergraduate teaching at CUHK, which inspires some medical students to specialise in psychiatry. As the training system matures and more comprehensive subspecialty coverage becomes available, the focus of local psychiatry training has shifted from overseas experiences prior to 1993 (Chen Reference Chen1994) to local training since the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty from the UK to China.

After graduating from medical school and completing a 1-year compulsory internship in medicine and surgery, junior doctors who want to become psychiatrists must apply and be accepted into the Central Training Scheme for psychiatric training, during which they work as residents. Each psychiatry resident completes 6 years of professional training, including 6-month rotations across various subspecialties and clusters. This underscores the importance of local clinical exposure to patients with psychopathologies that reflect the unique socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the Hong Kong population. Psychiatry residents need to obtain a mid-level qualification, such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ MRCPsych or a local Part I and Part II examination. Afterwards, they need to undertake 3 years of advanced training in a chosen subspecialty (e.g. child and adolescent psychiatry, old age psychiatry) and submit a dissertation. After 6 years of training, they will become Fellows of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists and will be listed on the Specialist Register with the Medical Council of Hong Kong.

Undergraduate psychiatry education at HKUST – a new medical school after 45 years

In 1981, Professor Char-Nie Chen established the Department of Psychiatry at CUHK. Professor Chen laid down the solid foundation for undergraduate psychiatry teaching in behavioural science and biopsychosocial medicine (Chinese University of Hong Kong 2021). During this period, the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin, New Territories, was open and served as a teaching hospital for CUHK. Some 45 years later, in 2025, HKUST, with the support of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, commenced preparations to establish a new medical school with a 4-year graduate-entry medical programme. Dedicated to training a new generation of tech-savvy doctors, this new medical school will bolster the local healthcare system’s future readiness and advance Hong Kong’s development as an international hub for medical innovation. Global admissions are expected to open by 2027 (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2025).

Conclusion

Psychiatry education reflects and witnesses the developments and changes in Hong Kong and in the practice of psychiatry worldwide. The first academic psychiatry department at the University of Hong Kong was established in 1971 under the British colonial government, and conducted its first psychiatric research focus on culture-bound syndromes. The second academic psychiatry department at CUHK was established in 1981, before the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and conducted its first psychiatric research on epidemiology and psychosomatic medicine. The third academic psychiatry unit at HKUST was planned in 2025, and it conducted its first psychiatric research on functional near-infrared spectroscopy and AI, after the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty to China.