A two-way medical-student exchange involving 118 participants gave a Hong Kong student a close look at clinical training and hospital processes in Shanghai. Project Empadurance ran the programme for a third year, with its completion ceremony held on 17 October 2026.
The cohort’s Hong Kong student representative, a fifth-year medical student, completed a placement at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. He observed consultations and went into operating rooms. He said students he encountered began intensive clinical training earlier and also had research duties, which he felt Hong Kong medical students should work harder to match.
He also described adjusting to the use of Chinese medical terms, which Mainland doctors explained to him; Hong Kong practitioners commonly use English terms, he said. As an example of hospital efficiency, he cited blood-test results being available on the same day. He said Hong Kong could learn from this to help more patients, while noting that medical systems reflect different social needs.