Medical students from abroad, as well as those from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao may have a chance to practice medicine on the mainland starting next year.

Health and personnel authorities on the mainland have jointly issued a regulation that allows applicants from those areas to take part in the national qualification examination for medical practitioners.Those who pass the exams will receive a certificate qualifying them to practice medicine on the Chinese mainland.

Under the regulations, overseas students who want to sign up for the examination should have studied at universities on the Chinese mainland and have earned a bachelor's degree or higher medical degree.

Meanwhile, before taking the examination, graduates should have completed a one-year practice in the hospitals attached to the universities or colleges where they have studied.

Students who enrolled in the joint programmes abroad, which are set by Chinese and foreign universities, cannot apply for the qualification exam so far, said Wang Yu, deputy director-general with the Department of Medical Administration under the Ministry of Health.

The requirements are the same for medical students on the Chinese mainland, as listed in the Law on Licensed Doctors of the People's Republic of China.

Foreign students and students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao can choose one of three types of exams - clinical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine or dentistry, based on their field of study.

The exam will be offered in mid-November each year, and its content is the same for foreign and domestic students, with a written part and another part on practical skills.

More than 9,400 students from abroad and Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao have received their medical education on the Chinese mainland, and 3,500 of them have studied traditional Chinese medicine, according to Wang.

(China Daily October 26,2001)