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3 Medical Faculty News “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards,” wrote Søren Kierkegaard. This is an apt description of today’s Faculty (and of Hong Kong). We have spent much of the past 132 years traversing colonialism, war, economic upheavals and reunion with the Mainland, to come full circle to our past and future destiny. Under the influence of our deep re-engagement with the Mainland, the Faculty is contributing to healthcare in the Mainland at higher levels than ever before and, in turn, welcoming unprecedented opportunities to advance our teaching, research and health leadership. This re-engagement has brought new horizons to all our areas of activity. For instance, we are collaborating on co-teaching and co-learning activities with the best medical schools in the country as a member of the China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals, which we were invited to join in 2017. Our HKU-Shenzhen Hospital (HKUSZH) has introduced transformative changes in the public health system. And our research excellence has been advanced through collaborations with Mainland partners, such as our work with Shantou University on emerging infectious diseases. Re-engagement has not happened overnight but the pace has been remarkably rapid nonetheless, in step with the country’s historic progress in improving medical care and education and adapting technologies to advance society. While there is still much work to be done, reflected in the Central Government’s Healthy China 2030 blueprint to optimise health and healthcare across the entire country, the Faculty is in an optimal position to make meaningful contributions. We are a leading institution that has a long history of engagement with both East and West, and we are also geographically well- positioned to contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop and deepen China’s connections with the region and the world and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) vision to integrate the Pearl River Delta region into an innovation and economic powerhouse. “We are coming full circle to the original vision of our forerunner, the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which was founded in 1887 to serve the nation as well as Hong Kong,” said the Dean, Professor Gabriel Leung – an aim that was articulated by the Viceroy of Canton, Li Hongzhang, who became patron of the College in 1888. “There is no doubt that when your admirable project is achieved it will be appreciated and imitated, and that it will through your students be a blessing to China,” he said. The blessings work both ways, for the Faculty also has much to gain from its deepening ties with the Mainland – provided it acts with urgency, added Professor Leung. “By the time we reach 2047 – by the time the Greater Bay Area vision is at maturity, by the time the Belt and Road Initiative re-ignites a new sense of globalism – we must make sure that we are very well prepared. This preparation is imperative for research and development, for Hong Kong’s health sector, and, most importantly, for tomorrow’s practitioners, i.e., the students of today.” Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, established in 1887 and renamed the Hong Kong College of Medicine in 1907, was the territory’s first institution of higher learning. In 1911, when the University of Hong Kong was founded, it was amalgamated into the Faculty of Medicine as the University’s premier faculty. This photo was taken in 1908 with Dr Ho Kai, one of the founders of the College of Medicine (sixth from right, front row). 香港華人西醫書院於 1887 年成立， 1907 年易名為香港西醫書院，是香港第一所提供高等教育的 學府。香港大學於 1911 年成立時，香港西醫書院併入香港大學醫學院，成為大學的首間學院。 此相片攝於 1908 年，前排右六為西醫書院其中一位創辦人何 博士。 The Faculty’s re-engagement with Mainland China is consolidating our position as a bridge between China and the world and opening a multitude of new paths and opportunities.