Page 123 - HKU Surgery 110 Anniversary E-Book

Chapter V. Embracing the Modern Age

“Every regime brings something different, you can’t compare them. And expectations three years and was succeeded by another biggest challenge that had faced society
change. But all of our Heads have been characterised by integrity and a commitment liver specialist, Professor Lo Chung-Mau. for many decades – the COVID-19
to not only maintaining high standards of surgery but advancing it even further. pandemic. Professor Cheng steered the
This is a common thread. Any one of them could have been more than just Head Professor Lo served as Head to 2016, Department through the choppy waters
of Surgery, yet they put their priorities there. That says something about the with a forthright and visionary style that with remarkable calm (while he and his
Department.” echoed back to Ong and Wong. His aim colleagues paddled hard beneath the
- Professor Paul Tam - was simply to make the Department even surface). Learning and assessment had
better and he was particularly successful to be moved online for various periods,
in recruiting talented young people. and many elective surgical procedures
Won g’s imm e di at e Twenty University staff were appointed were disrupted because of pandemic
successor, the world- during his term, many of whom went on to restrictions, all within tight deadlines.
renowned liver surgeon become full professors. Lo’s outstanding But the fact that teaching, research and
Professor Fan Sheung- leadership skills saw him recruited to lead clinical services continued to operate
Tat, served from 2008- The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen efficiently was a great testimony to
11 and set about further Hospital (HKU-SZH) Hospital, which Professor Cheng’s management skills.
bolstering research had opened in 2012 as a grand endeavour
in the Department, to introduce clinical management and In 2023, Professor Cheng was succeeded
particularly laboratory practices from Hong Kong and the world by Professor Simon Law, who developed
research. More scientists to Mainland China. Lo served as Chief his specialisation in oesophageal and
Neurosurgery Dissection Laboratory. were recruited and donations raised to Executive of the hospital from November upper gastrointestinal surgery under the
While some may describe GB Ong and expand laboratory space and research 2016 to June 2022, when he was appointed guidance of John Wong and became a
John Wong as “imperialists” who were output. He also transformed the previous Hong Kong’s Secretary for Health. world-class expert in his own right. As de
instrumental in gaining global recognition Animal Experiment Laboratory into the facto Department Head, one of the key
for the Department, their style is no Surgical Skills Centre as a training and Vascular surgeon Professor Stephen issues he has set out to tackle is to enhance
longer in vogue. Subsequent heads have experimental venue for surgeons from Cheng succeeded Lo as Department the appeal of surgery to younger doctors
had less latitude to act and react due to across Hong Kong, as well as practitioners Head in 2017 and was the last official and address human capital challenges.
tighter controls across the University and in related specialities such as gynaecology Department Head due to the absorption For some years, concerns have been
Faculty. One of the major changes has and orthopaedic surgery. Professor Fan, of Surgery into the School of Clinical raised about “work-life balance” and the
been to restrict Heads to a maximum two a quiet achiever, voluntarily left the Medicine. His tenure was marked by the changing expectations of young doctors,
terms of three years each (as against the hubbub of leading a department after and Professor Law has
26 years served by Wong, who believes his introduced measures that
success was due in part to the longevity recognise these concerns.
of his headship). Nonetheless, the new He also supports a
leaders have sustained the Department’s deepening focus on the
strong international standing and multi-disciplinary area of
shepherded it into a new period of growth cancer care and is helping
and development. the Department to adapt
to a research environment
Professor Fan Sheung-Tat at the Opening Cere- that increasingly wants
mony of the Surgical Skills Centre in May 2011, discoveries that can be
together with Professor Lee Sum-Ping, Dean of turned into start-ups and
Medicine, and Professor Law Wai-Lun, Director of
the Centre. products.
Life goes on and so must the Forum during COVID-19 in January 2022.

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