Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences - History

History

Traditional Chinese Medicine that is based on the use of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage and other forms of therapy has been practiced in China for thousands of years. However, Western Medicine was introduced to China and Hong Kong in the 19th Century, mainly by medical missionaries sent from various Christian mission organizations, such as the London Missionary Society (Britain), the Methodist Church (Britain) and the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

The Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (香港華人西醫書院) was founded in 1887 by the London Missionary Society, with its first graduate (in 1892) being Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) . Sun later led the Chinese Revolution (1911), which changed China from an empire to a republic. The Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese was the forerunner of the School of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, which started in 1911.

Dr. Man-Kai Wan, 尹文階 (1869-1927) was one of the first Chinese doctors of Western medicine in Hong Kong, in addition to being the inaugural Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Medical Association 香 港 中 華 醫 學 會 (1920-1922, forerunner of Hong Kong Medical Association). He was a secondary school classmate of Dr. Yat-Sen Sun (孫中山, 1866-1925), with whom he did some medical service work together.

The registration of nurses and midwives did not start in Hong Kong till the early 1930s. In 1937, 615 midwives were registered with the Hong Kong Government.

Hong Kong St. John Ambulance provided emergency medical service to the Hong Kong military during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941 (World War II). Dr. Wai-Cheung Chau (周懷璋,1893-1965), who received his medical training in the University of Hong Kong, was present in the battle at Magazine Gap as a medical officer of St. John Ambulance. While he was in a car, the person sitting next to him was killed and he was wounded by a bullet through his lung. The blood clot in his lung was with him for the rest of his life.

Nurses trained by the Department of Medical Services (directed by Dr. Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, of the Government of British Hong Kong contributed to the Nursing work in China during World War II. This is because of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, which started upon the surrender of Hong Kong to Japan at the end of the Battle of Hong Kong on December 25, 1941. The Japanese occupation forced a significant fraction of the people of Hong Kong to flee from Hong Kong to Free China (Second Sino-Japanese War). The people that fled were mostly young people seeking work or education. The Hong Kong nurses took up Nursing positions at the Flying Tigers (Rebecca Chan Chung 鍾陳可慰, Daisy Pui-Ying Chan 陳培英), U.S. Army (Rebecca Chan Chung 鍾陳可慰, Daisy Pui-Ying Chan 陳培英, Cynthia Chan 陳靜渝), Chinese Red Cross (Elsie Chin Yuen Seetoo, Irene Yu 余秀芬) and China National Aviation Corporation (Rebecca Chan Chung 鍾陳可慰, Irene Yu 余秀芬). Cynthia Chan 陳靜渝 is the elder sister of Anna Chan 陳香梅 (Mrs. Anna Chennault).

Professor Gordon King (王國棟, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong) arranged for the resumption and completion of medical training for many medical students of the University of Hong Kong. By the end of 1942, there were 140 students (out of a total of about 300 at the time of the surrender) studying at six universities that had relocated to cities in Free China (Chongqing, Guiyang, Chengdu, etc.)

The Hong Kong Nurses and Midwives Association was founded in 1940 with the objectives of maintaining the standard of nursing care, promoting unity among nurse/midwife colleagues and protecting the interest of the nurses and midwives. The association organized courses for its members and also engaged in activities that would improve the service of nurses and midwives.

Other than the Government hospitals, such as Queen Mary Hospital, which taught Nursing in English, all the hospitals in Hong Kong (including Tung Wah Group of Hospital) taught Nursing in Chinese. As a result, there was a need for many nurses to learn the Nursing terms in English. For two years (around 1956-58) in the Hong Kong Nurses and Midwives Association, Rebecca Chan Chung 鍾陳可慰, who served for many years as a member of its executive committee and for three years as its President, developed and taught a course in English for Nursing. The classes were held on the premises of the Association located on Haven Street (希雲街), Causeway Bay. The course content included General Nursing, Surgical Nursing, Medical Nursing, Gynecological Nursing, Midwifery, Isolation Technique, etc. The classes were held weekly for one and a half hours each time. The tuition was HK$10 per month per person. At the beginning, there were only about 25 students. However, the number quickly grew to about 65.

The training of Nurses using the Chinese language was an important part of the work of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The Student Nurses contributed much to the care of patients. In 1964, the Nursing Schools of Tung Wah Hospital, Tung Wah Eastern Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital were centralized at Kwong Wah Hospital. With the expansion of Kwong Wah Hospital, the number of students increased significantly. There were three classes per year, with as many as 70 students in a class. The centralized School, perhaps the largest in the world, was first headed by Sister Tutor-in-Charge Rebecca Chan Chung 鍾陳可慰.

At the end of the 19th century, bacteriological studies in Hong Kong were underdeveloped. The building of the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences was built in 1906. It was designed by Leigh & Orange. It was previously called Bacteriological Institute. Later, it was called Pathological Institute after World War II.

Being the first laboratory of bacteriology in Hong Kong, it was constructed of red bricks and consisted of three blocks. The main block is a two-storey building with a basement. The second one was used as a dormitory and the third for keeping animals. In 1972, the institute was relocated to Victoria Road and the building was then used as a storeroom for Pathology Service for the Health Department.

The building was declared a monument in 1990. In 1995, it was handed over to the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Society and converted to a museum for the public. The museum is still located at the same place, 2 Caine Lane at Mid-levels.