Baptist University says the medical school it is hoping to create would be innovative and creative and not just a replica of the two Hong Kong already has.

The university is one of three institutions to answer the government's call for a third medical school in the city, with the University of Science and Technology and Polytechnic University also expressing an interest.

Proposals have to be submitted to the government by the middle of next month.

Professor Lee Sum-ping, who chairs Baptist University's preparatory committee on the medical school plan, said the existing medical training system needs a shake-up.

“Hong Kong needs a third medical school and I believe the new medical school has to be a new one with new features that is innovative, creative, wise and would hold promises for the future. It cannot be another of the old replications,” he said.

The university said its four-year programme would be for those who have already completed their first degree, with around 60 students to be enrolled annually.

It added that experts would be engaged to help make the curriculum innovative, and there would be an “East-meets-West” approach.

“We would pursue a traditional Western medicine curriculum, enriching and supplementing that with Chinese medicine, where students will understand the basic principles, broaden their visual field and perspective, so students can be more encompassing, more humanistic in their approach to their patients after they graduate,” Lee said.

Under the proposal, students could opt to complete their clinical placement elsewhere in the Greater Bay Area, which the university said would give students unlimited learning opportunities due to the large number of patients available.

“In the Greater Bay Area, you actually see a patient, you learn so much more than looking at a slide or reading a book or clicking on the internet. You feel the patient, their consistency and pulsation,” Lee said.

The university said it would be able to admit its first batch of students in September 2026 if the government granted permission for the school by the third quarter of this year.