Page 96 - HKU Surgery 110 Anniversary E-Book

Chapter IV. A Centre of Excellence

Bringing the World to Hong Kong

to present their research at professional
surgical meetings.

Wong also enticed surgeons from around
the world to visit Hong Kong, particularly
through the biannual Hong Kong Surgical
Forum, launched in 1983 and held every
spring and autumn ever since. This has
brought a steady stream of visitors to
the Department. Furthermore, Wong
also continued the strong affiliation with
the Asian Surgical Association, founded
by Ong in 1972 as the Association of
B o t h On g a n d Wo n g s a w Surgeons of Southeast Asia, which
internationalisation as a way to lift publishes the Asian Journal of Surgery.
standards and promote the Department’s

excellence on the global stage. Wong Individual surgeons have also used their
himself was an early example of this. In the platform to reach out and engage, such as
mid-1970s, Ong sent him to the annual Professor Paul Tam, who has organised
American Surgical Congress meeting workshops in keyhole and minimally
and he returned with a new innovation, invasive surgery that have trained Hong Kong Surgical Forum in 2017.
the surgical stapler, that he had bought more than 3,000 paediatric surgeons
himself. Wong ramped up this practice in Mainland China. Such outreach
of sending people out to acquire new would continue in the post-Wong era,
knowledge and methods and upgrade particularly through the HKU-Shenzhen
their training, and he encouraged them Hospital.

Visitors observing surgery in 1990s. International Surgical Week 35t Visitors observing surgery in 1990s. h World Congress of Surgery.

96 | Department of Surgery 110 Anniversary Department of Surgery 110 Anniversary | 97
th
th