To: All HKUMed students and staff
Following the University’s announcement below, the Faculty would like to provide our students with information on teaching and learning arrangements for HKUMed programmes for the rest of the semester.
In general, all undergraduate teaching will continue in e-learning format (including the 2-week recess on 17-29 February 2020 proposed by the University, except for BASc(GHD)).
- MBBS
- Final-year MBBS
- Considering the Hospital Authority’s timeline for intern allocation exercise for July 2020 and students’ progression to the Enhanced Pre-Internship Block in June, the Final MBBS Examinations will be held from 1 April to 8 May 2020, with the supplementary/re-examinations being held in mid-June 2020. The Faculty is working with clinical departments to reschedule all the written and OSCE examinations and will announce the examination timetable once the arrangements are confirmed. In this connection, the MBBS Elective originally scheduled for mid-April to mid-May 2020 will be cancelled.
- MBBS I and II
- All classes will continue in e-learning format, as far as possible, except for classes that must be conducted face-to-face (e.g. practical and clinical skills sessions) which will be rescheduled. The end date of teaching may have to be extended. The First and Second Summative Assessments may be pushed back appropriately allowing time for students to revise before sitting the examinations.
- MBBS III Enrichment Year
- Arrangements remain unchanged, same as the last announcement.
- Junior Clerkship
- Classes that are didactic in nature will continue through e-learning. Clerkship rotations will be frameshifted appropriately when class resumes to ensure that students will have adequate clinical exposure:
- Rotation 2: The remaining clinical teaching and the end-of-rotation clinical tests will be rescheduled.
- Rotation 3: The whole rotation will be frameshifted.
- The Fourth Summative Assessment in 2020 will be pushed back appropriately allowing time for students to revise before sitting the examinations, with the supplementary/re-examination being held in July/August 2020. As such, students are advised to stay in Hong Kong this summer.
- Senior Clerkship in 2020 will be frameshifted accordingly. Students should prepare that the term break during Christmas and New Year in December 2020 will be significantly shortened.
- Classes that are didactic in nature will continue through e-learning. Clerkship rotations will be frameshifted appropriately when class resumes to ensure that students will have adequate clinical exposure:
- Specialty Clerkship: Classes that are didactic in nature will continue through e-learning. Clerkship rotations will be frameshifted appropriately when class resumes to ensure students will have adequate clinical exposure:
- Rotation 1: The remaining teaching will be frameshifted and the end-of-rotation CCTs will be rescheduled.
- Rotations 2-7: The full rotations will be frameshifted.
- Because of the frameshifting in 2020, students should prepare that the Christmas and New Year break in December 2020 will be significantly shortened. They will be arranged to sit the Final MBBS Examinations from April/May 2021 and have the supplementary/re-examinations run into the summer. As such, we will have to omit MBBS Elective in 2021, and students are advised to stay in Hong Kong in summer 2021 as well.
- Separate announcements will be made by the Faculty for MBBS students in different years of studies, as and when appropriate.
- Final-year MBBS
- BNurs
- All teaching will be conducted in e-learning format, except skills lab sessions which will be rescheduled. The School of Nursing has been in active liaison with clinical partners to rearrange the clinical practicum. Examinations originally scheduled during the class suspension period have been rescheduled. Together with examinations for this semester, all examinations are aimed to be held in May 2020. Separate announcements on details of all these arrangements will be made by the School of Nursing in due course.
- BBiomedSc
- All BBMS courses will continue by online learning according to the original teaching schedules. Continuous assessments and assessment weightings may be modified to suit online learning as advised by the course coordinators. The two practical courses BBMS2001 Basic Biomedical Laboratory Techniques and BBMS3004 Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory will be adapted for online learning. For BBMS4001 Final Year Project, students will have an option to complete their project without further experimentation with greater weighting to be placed on literature review and with options for oral presentations by video conferencing. All BBMS examinations for this semester are aimed to be held in May 2020. More details will be announced by the School of Biomedical Sciences in due course.
- BChinMed
- Teaching will continue in e-learning format as far as possible. Teaching that must be held face-to-face or on site will be rescheduled. Details of arrangements for different years of studies, including clinical teaching, as well as assessment methods for courses in Semester 2 will be announced by the School of Chinese Medicine in due course. In addition, examinations scheduled during the class suspension period will be rescheduled, details to be announced by the School of Chinese Medicine.
- BPharm
- Basically, all teaching will continue following the teaching schedule in e-learning format, including PBL/workshop/student presentation. All clinical teaching and ward visit (including UHS) will be cancelled and replaced by online clinical-based group discussions. Practical classes will be conducted in recorded online format with data provided for students’ analysis and report writing. Class tests may be conducted using alternative assessment methods (e.g. online quiz/assignment), as appropriate. An e-platform enabling an online forum/live Q&A session for each course will be set up to facilitate students’ consultation. All examinations for this semester are aimed to be held in May 2020. Details of arrangement will be announced by the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy in due course.
- BASc(GHD)
- For the compulsory course GHAD1002 Introductory Economics and Finance, teaching will be conducted in e-learning format in the rest of Semester 2 (except during the 2-week recess from 17 to 29 February). Adjustment to the assignment submission deadline will be made and announced, if necessary. The final examination is targeted to be held in May 2020. Details of arrangement will be announced by the School of Public Health in due course. For courses offered by other Faculties, students should refer to the announcements made by the respective course-offering Faculties/units.
- BSc(Exercise&Health)
- For all EXSC courses, teaching will be delivered in e-learning format. All practical sessions and field trips will be replaced by alternative assessment components. Adjustments on the assessment and assignment format/submission deadline will be made, details to be announced. For the final-year project EXSC4000 Dissertation, students will be given an option to either continue with their current research study, or change to another approach as advised by their supervisor. The assessment will be 100% based on the written dissertation, without the oral presentation component. Details of arrangement will be announced by the School of Public Health in due course.
- TPg programmes
- TPg Programme Directors and Coordinators have been consulted with regard to the teaching (lectures and tutorials), practicum and examination arrangements for the second semester 2019/20. Most teaching will be conducted online. Re-arrangement for practicum is being made and they may be deferred. Re-arrangement for examinations (mostly being held in April-May 2020) will be determined later. Programme Directors/Coordinators will announce the detail arrangements to their own students in due course.
- RPg programmes
- In addition to the tuition fee waiver for candidature extension necessitated by the disruption due to the outbreak, the Faculty would provide subsidies to full-time students during the extension period given that their Postgraduate Studentships will cease upon expiry of their normative study period. Details will be announced in due course.
Classes at HKUMed will resume making reference to the resumption of campus teaching as announced by the University. Further announcements will be made by the Faculty when appropriate.
Meanwhile, if you have any enquiries about the T&L arrangements, please contact the following:
- Undergraduate: kittang@hku.hk
- Taught postgraduate: tpgmed@hku.hk
- Research postgraduate matters: kimmyliu@hku.hk
- MBBS Enrichment Year: enrichme@hku.hk
- Student Wellness Team: medwell@hku.hk
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
Important message from Vice President (Teaching and Learning)
Dear colleagues and students,
The University is continuing to draw on expert medical knowledge in monitoring the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong. While all of us are eager to return to teaching and learning in early March, we realise that it is now unlikely that scheduled classes on campus will be able to resume so quickly. As long as there is risk of infection in a crowded classroom, we cannot deliver face-to-face teaching. I’m writing to inform you of how we envisage the remainder of the semester unfolding.
Please note that the teaching and assessment schedules for professional undergraduate programmes may differ from those described below, and will be announced separately by programme directors.
Undergraduate programmes
|
Now – 15 February |
As you know, we are devoting these two weeks to online learning. |
|
17 – 29 February |
As announced previously, we will take a recess for the final two weeks of the month to enable teachers to make course adjustments for the rest of the semester, and to enable students to engage in self-study based on the three weeks of teaching already undertaken in the semester. |
|
2 – 28 March |
Since the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong is likely to prevent us from resuming campus teaching in March, we will return to online learning for these four weeks. While some students may be able to visit the campus for specific activities, there will be no scheduled face-to-face classes. We plan to make use of the reading week (9-14 March) for online classes, though we will of course respond sympathetically to absence requests from colleagues and students with pre-existing commitments. |
|
30 March – 16 May |
We hope to resume scheduled classes on campus for these seven weeks. Should that not be possible because of ongoing health and safety concerns in Hong Kong, we will make an early announcement of alternative arrangements. (In the event that it becomes safe to return to on-campus teaching before the end of March, we will seize the opportunity and make an announcement to all students at least 14 days in advance.) |
|
18 May – 6 June |
We intend to conduct proctored exams during the assessment period, and will require all students taking exams to be present in the examination hall. We will move the assessment period back by one week, with the aim of bringing the semester to a close in early June. We have heard from many students, especially in the final year, about the importance of concluding the semester within a reasonable timeframe. We will make every effort to do that. |
Taught postgraduate programmes
- We are adopting a flexible approach to the scheduling of taught postgraduate programmes. Faculties or programme teams will announce the detailed teaching arrangements to their own cohorts of taught postgraduate students.
Research postgraduate programmes
- University policy encourages research postgraduate students with no immediate need to visit the campus to undertake their research, and liaise with their supervisors, remotely. Students who need to conduct their research in a campus setting, such as a laboratory, must adhere to Government and University infection control protocols before returning to campus. All research postgraduate students should discuss their study plans in detail with their supervisors. We will respond sympathetically to requests for candidature extensions necessitated by disruptions experienced during this semester, and for tuition waivers for the extended period of studies.
Visiting campus
- One general reminder during the current coronavirus situation in Hong Kong: colleagues and students who visit the campus must adhere to Government and University infection control guidelines. We will have no alternative but to take strict disciplinary action against anyone not adhering to them.
Once again, many thanks for your understanding and cooperation as we seek to navigate the remainder of an unprecedented and unpredictable semester. As before, please stay vigilant and continue to make personal health your top priority.
Professor Ian Holliday
Vice-President & Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching & Learning)