Diploma Conferment Ceremony
of HK College of Otorhinolaryngologists
24 April 2004
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by
Dr C H Leong
President, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine

Mr President, Honoured Guests, Fellows of the College of Otorhinolaryngologists, Ladies and Gentlemen,

          Thank you for asking me to address the Congregation. May I on behalf of the Academy congratulate the new Fellows, who will be conferred later this evening, for your achievements. Your hard work has obviously bear fruit and you are all on your way to become a ENT specialist. On behalf of all of you, may I thank your College and your trainers, and not least your families who have supported you unceasingly through your days of hardship in training and taking the necessary examinations.

          Yet the Fellowship is only the beginning of your life long learning. As you probably known there is the CME, and your Academy is going to introduce the CPD. Your Academy too has stood firm to affirm that CME is not only a compulsory requirement to retain your fellowship but also a mandatory requirement to retain your privilege to practise medicine.

          It is obvious therefore that you had to go through a stringent curricular to become a doctor and dentist, and an even more taxing programme to become a specialist, after which, more than other professions, the medical and dental professions require the total commitment of an unceasing upgrading and learning to honour our pledge to serve our fellowman. Why does anyone want to take up medicine or dentistry as their career? I was asked once. Time will not allow me to go into all the details, furthermore everyone of us have our perhaps special reasons, suffice it to say that the medical and dental professions top all others in their rating as a honourable profession and that even in this very politicized environment of Hong Kong, a survey done a few months ago indicates that the public prefer to trust doctors most.

          Interesting enough a recent survey done in the US interviewing active practicing doctors on the question of "Would you choose medicine as your career again?" 92% say "yes".

          This says it all. Whilst any young man can choose to be an entrepreneur and make his first pot of gold playing golf, you have chosen the difficult path of aiming to heal the sick and with no regrets.

          As Robert Frost a renown poet once wrote in his poem " The Road NOT Taken" and I quote.

          Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by - and that has made all the difference.

          Mr President, Fellows, otorhinolaryngology is no different. The road to become ENT specialist is getting more and more difficult. Gone are the days when protruding nasal polyps were treated with epinephrine nose drops, the ENT surgeon today restores hearing as if by magic, split open the face to approach the nasopharynx to attempt a cure for N.P.C.

          The profession has improved by leaps and bounds, the College has stood firm to maintain standards, and you as new Fellows have arrived, eager to serve the public.

          I salute you.

          Thank you.