Medical education is a continuous process. In coordination with the Council of the College, the Education Committee functions to monitor the Specialist training of radiologists, and to continue with their medical education and professional development throughout their careers.
During the period of training, a doctor takes up supervised responsibilities for patients, and develops the wide range of Specialist skills needed for practice in respective Specialty of Radiology, Clinical Oncology or Nuclear Medicine. On completion of training, a doctor should be ready to accept Specialist responsibilities and practice independently.
Terms of Reference
To advise the Council of the College on the policy of training, examination and appraisal of trainees, and to manage such policy.
To establish and advise on the maintenance of standards and clinical practice.
To advise the Council of the College on the development of Subspecialties and matters pertaining to the continuous professional development of the three disciplines.
To set and review the format and syllabuses for the College examinations; to make regulations on, and to conduct examinations and assessments for the College.
To set up the Examination Board to undertake duties in connection with examinations as the Council shall direct, and to appoint members of the panel of assessors for the Exit Assessment of trainees.
To establish and monitor the following Boards and Subcommittees:
Examination Board to advise and manage the policy of examinations including to make regulations in connection with, and to conduct examinations for the College, to nominate examiners, observers and invigilators, and to monitor and oversee the mechanism for preparation of examinations
Accreditation Subcommittees to assess and approve training centres and training programmes.
Training Course Subcommittees to organize and implement structured training courses for trainees.
Scientific Subcommittee to organize and conduct scientific meetings and other educational activities as directed by the Council.
Continuing Medical Education and Continuous Professional Development (CME/CPD) Subcommittee to advise on the policy of CPD and to monitor continuing medical education for the Fellows of the College.
Credentialing Subcommittee to recommend medical procedures for credentialing, to define the requirements of such procedures and advise the College in the endorsement process.
Education and Research Fund Subcommittee to advise on and to monitor 2 sponsorship of local and overseas related professionals in educational and research activities
HKCR 15A Travelling Fellowship Subcommittee to promote, receive application, recommend suitable candidate(s) to the Council, and coordinate with RCR where applicable in running the Travelling Fellowship.
Subspecialty Board(s) to oversee the development, training and assessment in approved Subspecialty(ies) of the College.
To set up and monitor other subcommittees or working groups required to carry out the tasks vested with the Committee.
Accreditation of these centres is the responsibility of the Education Committee.
Training centres and training programmes will be subject to the scrutiny of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine.
Hospitals or institutions with training facilities in the Specialty can apply for accreditation.
Training centres shall submit training programmes to the College for the approval of programmes according to the Working Principles for Accreditation of Training Centres and Conduction of Training Programmes. Accredited programmes will be re-appraised at 5-year intervals, or more frequently when there is such a need.
A centre shall appoint a Trainer to be in charge of the training programme, to provide advice, support and career guidance to the trainees. It is preferable that the staff in charge of training is not the Administrative Head of the department.
There shall be regular assessment and review of training programmes and postgraduate educational facilities, both in the Specialty as well as in the related diagnostic and therapeutic services.
There shall also be review of the output from each centre, including workload statistics, success of trainees, and contribution to education/literature.
Training centres can arrange their trainees to rotate to other accredited training centres with an aim to broaden the exposure of their trainees and/or to supplement its deficit.
The Training Head and Administrative Head of the training centres should be responsible for the dissemination to their trainees of information related to training, examination and educational activities, and to support such activities.
All trainees must hold registration with the Medical Council of Hong Kong that is deemed acceptable by the College for the purpose of enrolment in the College’s training programme.
All trainees shall enrol with the Hong Kong College of Radiologists at the commencement of training, through the Training Head and Administrative Head of accredited training centres.
All trainees must become a Trainee Member or Member of the College. The training period will be accredited and counted from the first date of enrolment in the accredited training centre, provided that the newly enrolled trainee is admitted as a Trainee Member or Member of the College successfully within 3 months upon the enrolment in the accredited training centre. Otherwise, the training period would only be counted from the date of endorsement of membership application by the College Council (i.e. admission date of Trainee Member or Member of the College). The clinical 3 experience before registration as trainee with HKCR and before enrolling in a training centre will be assessed and counted if appropriate, e.g. in lateral transfer case.
Training Head and Administrative Head of training centres shall inform the College of any amendment/updating of the trainee data.
Training records of the trainees shall be kept at individual training centres, and shall be made available to the College on request.
Examination records shall be kept at the College. Relevant individual results can be released in general terms to the trainee on request for advice and counselling.
There shall be two parts of examinations for each Specialty. First (Part I) and Final (Part IIA & B) Examinations will be held at different months of the year. The dates of the examinations will be announced at least three months ahead.
The Part IIB Examinations are currently only in the form of Joint Fellowship Examinations organized by the Hong Kong College of Radiologists and the Royal College of Radiologists.
A Board of Examiners shall be formed to conduct the Joint Fellowship Examination. Examiners shall consist of overseas and local examiners.
Applications for any part of examination need to be approved by the Administrative Head and Training Head of the training centre.
After passing each examination held by the Hong Kong College of Radiologists, trainees will be notified by the College with a letter confirming success at the examinations.
Training at overseas training centres, and exemption from any part of the examination shall be considered on individual basis, and to be endorsed by Council.
For Part I and Part IIA Examination that are not currently conducted by the College, a pass at the First and Final Part A Fellowship Examination, respectively, of the Royal College of Radiologists, for which Hong Kong is an examination venue, with satisfactory documentation shall be exempted from the corresponding parts of Fellowship examination of the Hong Kong College of Radiologists. A candidate sitting the First and Final Part A Fellowship Examination of the Royal College of Radiologists must notify the Hong Kong College of Radiologists through the Training Head, and be responsible for notifying the examination result to the College using the special notification form.
Trainees holding a recognised international qualification obtained by examination, after passing a Special Examination organized by the Hong Kong College of Radiologists, shall be recognized as equivalent to passing the Joint Final Fellowship Examination.
Appeals by the candidates in connection with examination matters shall be dealt with by the Review Committee of the College.
Higher Specialist Training must be completed within 4 years after passing the Part IIB Fellowship Examination in Radiology or Clinical Oncology, or after passing the Special Examination.
Trainees who have passed both parts of the College examination, and have completed not less than six years (including the required period of accredited clinical experience outside the mother discipline) of full-time accredited training, including not less than two years of Higher Specialist Training being spent at accredited training centres, will be qualified to sit the Exit Assessment for the award of Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Radiologists (FHKCR).
The examination will be in the form of Fellowship Examination organized by the Hong Kong College of Radiologists.
There shall be two parts. First (Part I) and Final (Part II) Examinations will be normally held each year. The dates of examinations will be announced at least three months ahead.
A Board of Examiners shall be formed to conduct each examination. Overseas Specialists will be invited as external examiners.
Applications for any part of examination need to be approved by the Administrative Head and Training Head of the training centre.
After passing each part of the examination, trainees will be notified by the College with a letter confirming success at the examination.
Training at overseas training centres, and exemption from any part of the examination shall be considered on individual basis, and to be endorsed by the Council.
Appeals by the candidates in connection with examination matters shall be dealt with by the Review Committee of the College.
Higher Specialist Training must be completed within 4 years after passing the Part II Fellowship Examination.
Trainees who have passed both parts of the College examination, and have completed not less than six years (including the required period of accredited clinical experience outside nuclear medicine) of full-time accredited training, including not less than two years of Higher Specialist Training being spent at accredited training centres, will be qualified to sit the Exit Assessment for the award of Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Radiologists (FHKCR).
After fulfilling the criteria of training and examinations, documentation of completion of training requires success at the Exit Assessment organised by the College.
Exit Assessment is conducted by the College twice a year, normally in January and July.
A panel of assessors comprising the Warden and two other experienced College Fellows of the trainee’s profession, would carry out a formal assessment of the trainee’s completion of training.
Trainees must become a Member of the College for at least one year prior to their Exit Assessment.
Trainees should attend the training courses organized by the College and 100% attendance is encouraged. Before a trainee is allowed to sit for Exit Assessment, a certificate of satisfactory attendance for at least 80% of the sessions including all mandatory lectures for every training course of the Specialty is required to be submitted to the College. If a trainee fails to achieve this minimum requirement for a training course, he/she should make up for the sessions of absence within his/her remaining training period before applying for the Exit Assessment.
A maximum of 3 attempts is allowed for Exit Assessment. The three attempts must be completed within 3 years after the candidate is eligible to apply for Exit Assessment. After failing in three attempts, candidate must restart the Higher Specialist Training again.
When a trainee is unsuccessful at an Exit Assessment, the Training Head and Administrative Head of the respective training department will be informed of the Panel’s comments on the weaknesses of the trainee and the advice on appropriate remedial actions.
Prolonged leave will reduce the time spent in training. Trainees absent from their training post for any period in excess of culmination of 90 calendar days during the period of Basic Specialist Training, or culmination of 60 calendar days during the period of Higher Specialist Training, apart from annual leave, study leave and prospectively approved full-time research program, should notify the College for corresponding adjustment of the training period requirement in respect of examination or accreditation. In addition, trainees should notify the College for any continuous absence (inclusive of sick leave, maternity leave or study leave) other than annual leave of more than 14 calendar days during the training period. Trainees should also complete the Declaration of Absence from Training Form in the training logbook.
Full time research and experience in related clinical fields are encouraged but may not necessarily be wholly approved for training purposes. Prospective approval from the College must be sought. For Clinical Oncology, up to a year of research relevant to Clinical Oncology training may be allowed at the discretion of the Education Committee. In Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, six months of full time research in any aspect of the two disciplines are allowed, and at the discretion of the Education Committee up to one year may be spent in clinically based research.
Part-time training is accepted on an individual basis.
There shall be no exemption from full-time training for the first two years (excluding the period of post-registration clinical experience in other clinical specialties) in the discipline.
To qualify for part-time training, the trainee should satisfy a minimum requirement of 5 half-day sessions per week at approved training centres.
Duration of training completion will be lengthened accordingly.
Please refer to prevailing related document.
Honorary Fellowship & Fellowship without Examination
These will be considered by the Council directly.
TRAINING REGULATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIALTY
Details for each Specialty are described in the following documents:
Radiology
HKCR/EC/DR
Clinical Oncology
HKCR/EC/CO
Nuclear Medicine
HKCR/EC/NM
HKCR General Training Regulations
Last Version endorsed by HKAM Council on 16 January 2020 and effective from 1 January 2020
Revised Version endorsed by HKAM Council on 18 November 2021 and effective from 1 July 2022