How to become a specialist medical practitioner
Official title: Specialist medical practitioners
Also called: Anaesthetist, Cardiologist, Emergency medicine specialist, Gynaecologist, Obstetrician, Ophthalmologist, Paediatrician, Pathologist, Preventive medicine specialist, Psychiatrist, Radiation oncologist, Radiologist
Specialist medical practitioners (medical doctors) diagnose, treat and prevent illness, disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments in humans, using specialized testing, diagnostic, medical, surgical, physical and psychiatric techniques through application of the principles and procedures of modern medicine. They specialize in certain disease categories, types of patient or methods of treatment and may conduct medical education and research in their chosen areas of specialization.
Main tasks
- Conducting physical examinations of patients and interviewing them and their families to determine their health status
- Considering medical information provided by a referring doctor or other health care provider
- Ordering specialized diagnostic tests to determine the nature of disorders or illnesses
- Prescribing, administering and monitoring patients’ responses to treatments, medications, anaesthetics, psychotherapies, physical rehabilitation programmes and other preventive and curative measures
- Performing surgery of a general or specialized nature
- Managing complications before, during and after childbirth
- Recording patients’ medical information and exchanging information with other health professionals to ensure the provision of comprehensive care
- Reporting births, deaths and notifiable diseases to government authorities to meet legal and professional requirements
- Providing information to patients and families and communities about preventive measures, treatment and care for specific ailments
- Performing autopsies to determine cause of death
Ways in
- University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 9 universities in Hong Kong
- Licence or registration: Registering body: Medical Council of Hong Kong. Law: Medical Registration Ordinance (醫生註冊條例), Cap. 161. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
- About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a specialist medical practitioner?
Ways in include: Medicine & Dentistry degrees.
Do you need a degree to become a specialist medical practitioner?
Usually. 88% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a specialist medical practitioner?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026