“This is a time of consolidation and execution, that is of transactional leadership. The focus is on the details and making sure we consistently achieve the highest standards. It is important to have vision and principles, but to deliver on them is even more critical.” That assessment by the Dean of Medicine, Professor Gabriel Leung, Helen and Francis Zimmern Professor in Population Health, was made in 2013 when he took up his position. He has indeed delivered on the details that were the focus back then – pursuing collaborative education opportunities for the different disciplines in his Faculty (medicine, nursing, Chinese medicine, pharmacy and public health), producing HKU’s first MOOC, upgrading platform research technologies, and commissioning two new hospitals, the HKUShenzhen (HKU-SZ) Hospital which opened in 2012 and the Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital which opened in 2017. But incredible new opportunities and a restless energy have enabled him to advance the Faculty much further. These advances will start to reach visionary transformation, and it is not a moment too soon,” Professor Leung said. “Our student numbers have been increasing [MBBS intakes alone have nearly doubled since 2008 to meet demand for more doctors] and our staff numbers have grown alongside that. We have simply run out of space. We now will have the means to grow physically and to engage in the kind of blue-sky, forward-looking activities that will position us to truly lead in meeting the healthcare needs of the 21st century – in Hong Kong, the nation and the wider world.” Campus expansion The most resource-intensive changes are happening on Sassoon Road. In early 2018, the government announced it would allocate HK$300 billion for hospital and teaching facility development, including upgrading and increasing teaching facilities. The Dean had long been planning to improve the medical campus and now has the means. “This is a golden opportunity for us. My vision is that fruition in his second five-year term as Dean, which started in August, 2018. The government has given the green light to funding new and long-hoped-for developments at the Sassoon Road campus, stretching from Queen Mary Hospital down to the main building at 21 Sassoon Road. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has given the Faculty (and HKU) its largest-ever single donation to build a new cancer care and research centre in Aberdeen. The curriculum has been the focus of innovations that include a third-year ‘offbook’ for medical students, new articulation programmes and the coming launch of a new cross-disciplinary degree. And engagement with Mainland China is stepping up, with the HKU-SZ Hospital gaining recognition to upgrade its services and the Faculty being invited to join a high-level consortium of China’s elite teaching hospitals. “We are currently in the most fortunate position of being able to expand our space and pursue a Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine is in the midst of an unprecedented physical and visionary expansion. BIGGER, STRONGER, BOLDER: NEW HORIZONS FOR THE MEDICAL FACULTY We are currently in the most fortunate position of being able to expand our space and pursue a visionary transformation, and it is not a moment too soon. Professor Gabriel Leung The Faculty leadership: (back row from left) Professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning); Professor Chan Ying-shing, Associate Dean (Development and Infrastructure); (middle row from left) Professor Gabriel Leung, Dean of Medicine; Professor Leung Suet-yi, Associate Dean (Research); (front row from left) Professor Leung Wai-keung, Associate Dean (Human Capital); Professor Joseph Lui Cho-ze, Associate Dean (Clinical Affairs). The Medical Faculty is taking forward a large-scale expansion and development plan in which the Sassoon Road will be transformed into one contiguous, state-of-the-science campus cascading from Queen Mary Hospital all the way down to the intersection with Victoria Road. Development 41 | 42 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | November 2018
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