Youders’ Story – Prof. Sophia Chan陳肇始教授
Recipient of Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarships for Undergraduate Students in 1990/91
尤德爵士紀念基金本科生獎學金1990/91年得獎者
“Life always begins with a tiny little step outside of your comfort zone,” Professor Sophia Chan, recipient of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship for Undergraduate Students in 1990/91, is a great role model who never ceases to expand her sphere of influence. From frontline to academia and from professor to politician, Professor Chan has mastered to savor uncertainty and embrace the unknown.
Being nurtured in a medical family, Professor Chan aspired to dedicate herself to the health care profession. After graduating from nursing school, Professor Chan pursued pediatric training in the United Kingdom. Soon after, she returned and joined the pediatric intensive care unit at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, where she was appointed to develop a training program for her colleagues to improve their clinical skills and standards of care. It was the time when she cultivated her interests in teaching and planning the curriculum. Her diligence made her stand out of the crowd and received several scholarships to excel further. She was selected and sponsored by the Hong Kong Government to undergo a Post-Registration Diploma in health care education at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 1990, Professor Chan was awarded the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship and Rotary Foundation Scholarship to study Master of Education at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
Coupled with various studying abroad experiences, Professor Chan has once planned to study PhD in the United Kingdom but eventually chose to come home in 1992 upon receiving an offer of Assistant Professorship in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Professor Chan exemplified the notion that “teaching without learning is just talking”. She obtained her PhD at the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong while she was working as an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. There is no easy path to success. Keeping faith and perseverance has driven her to get through tough moments. In 1995, she joined the University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor to start the Department of Nursing Studies. Thereafter, she served the School of Nursing as the Head and Director of Research as well as Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. With a vision to expand her horizon in public health, Professor Chan strengthened her innovative research skills as a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and completed a Master Degree of Public Health at Harvard University. “We started the School of Nursing from scratch. With our hard work and perseverance over the decades, we built a solid foundation to strive for excellence and made significant achievements in teaching, research and knowledge exchange locally and internationally,” Professor Chan said.
In 2012, Professor Chan was invited by Dr. Ko Wing Man, Secretary of the Food and Health Bureau, Government of HKSAR, to be the Undersecretary for Food and Health. “It was not in my plan,” Professor Chan admitted. By that time, she just stepped down from her position as Head of the School of Nursing. If she joined the Government, she would have to leave her research program and team that she has cultivated over the years. This invitation gave her pause for thought. After talking through with her team, she believed taking the role in health policy making could put research findings into practice and make even greater contribution. In 2017, Professor Chan became the Secretary of Food and Health. During her tenure, the proudest achievement was to strengthen the development of primary health care in Hong Kong. This mission echoed her pioneering thesis back in her Master of Education. She initiated a sustainable blueprint with 3 fundamental pillars “District-based, Public-Private Partnership, Medical-Social Collaboration”. Fully funded by the government and operated by non-governmental organizations, this service model could capitalize on local networks and resources, allowing flexibility for primary health services to meet community needs. Professor Chan explained, “The health care system has long been skewed towards inpatient and emergency services as well as specialist care.” She then pinpointed that primary health care was the first contact point among individuals and families along the continuum of care and therefore a well-developed primary health system not only can act as a gatekeeper but will also enhance people’s health. After years of discussion, Professor Chan was instrumental to give birth to the first District Health Centre (“DHC”) in 2019, followed by the rest of the DHCs and DHC Expresses (“DHCEs”) opened in the 18 districts in Hong Kong by 2022. Through community-oriented preventive care, Professor Chan is optimistic about raising public’s awareness and empowering chronic disease patients. It is believed that this gravitational paradigm shift can mobilize resources more effectively and integrate more efficiently into secondary and tertiary levels of care.
In the past five years, we have come across the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges and hardship, Professor Chan’s tenacity has led her team to fight COVID as well as building strong foundation in primary health. “Once the infrastructures are firmly grounded and the initiatives in the Primary Healthcare Blueprint are implemented, talents and professionals will be able to plug in and develop a fully-fledged system,” the immediate past Secretary added. Returning to her academic position at School of Nursing of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Chan is keen to nurture the next generation of nursing leaders and develop a quality nursing workforce for Hong Kong. Given the current Government’s primary healthcare new journey, Professor Chan is keen to integrate more primary health care concepts and skills in the nursing curriculum and create exposure for her students in community health settings such as the DHCs. This could prepare her graduates with the necessary skills to take the lead in primary health care. Meanwhile, Professor Chan was also appointed as the Senior Advisor to the President’s Office of the University of Hong Kong to assist the University in its strategic development striving to achieve new heights.
“I am truly proud to be a Youde Scholar and grateful to the Association. The Fund has not only provided me with financial support but also encouraged me to be the best version of myself,” Professor Chan continued, “There are many ways to show our commitment and contribution to the society and the simplest way is to shine in your role. Remember, embrace the challenge and stay on track!”
在同一位置執行同一項任務一段時間，人們會慢慢建立一個舒適圈，但同時亦會變得不願改變。尤德爵士紀念基金本科生獎學金1990/91年度得獎者，香港大學護理學院陳肇始教授，卻勇於闖出舒適圈，並積極跳進未知的領域。在她的職業生涯中，她曾在醫護專業、學術界和政界擔任不同的崗位。從陳教授成長過程中遇上的各項挑戰，充份體會到她對醫療與研究工作的熱誠。
陳教授的母親是一名醫生。因此她自幼在耳濡目染下，立志要進入醫療衛生行業。護理學院畢業後，她前往英國進修兒科護理課程。回港後，陳教授加入瑪麗醫院兒科深切治療部工作。在位期間，她被指派去培訓同事，旨在提高部門同事的臨床技考及水平。在制訂課程和授課的過程中，她享受教學工作的樂趣及受到同事的認同。孜孜不倦的學習態度讓陳教授屢獲獎學金，並獲政府委派在香港理工大學修讀護士教師課程，並於1990年獲得尤德爵士紀念基金及扶輪基金會獎學金，前往英國深造教育碩士學位。
儘管陳教授多次負笈海外進修，亦曾準備在英國完成博士課程，但她最終選擇1992年回港發展。「學然後知不足，教然後知困」陳教授一邊在香港理工大學擔任助理教授，一邊在香港大學公共衞生學院攻讀博士學位。面對著半工讀的挑戰，陳教授深深相信信念及堅持是力量的源泉。1995年，她加入香港大學護理學院擔任助理教授，隨後出任護理學院院長、科研總監及醫學院助理院長。期間，陳教授秉持精益求精的態度，曾到美國哈佛大學公共衞生學院擔任訪問學者和客席科學家，並完成公共衛生碩士課程。冀能提升自己的公共衛生領域，更能引領學院邁向更卓越的水平。陳教授憶述學院當年由零開始，唯本著「迎難而上」的座右銘，歷年來帶領同仁追求專業及學術進階，使學院教研發展奠下堅實的基礎，並獲得國際的認同及領先地位。
在2012年，陳教授獲時任食物及衛生局局長高永文邀請出任副局長。她坦言，出任政府要職從不在她的工作計劃當中。當時，她剛剛從系主任的崗位中卸任，並期望有多些時間把研究工作再創高峰。若加入政府班子，她便要放棄建立多年的研究團隊，實在是非常不捨得。但由於她的研究成果都需要政府的政策層面推動，所以與其他資深教授商討後，她確信加入政府後可作出不同的貢獻。帶著「力學篤行」的信念，陳教授於2017年獲委任為食物及衛生局局長。任內，她最感到自豪的成就是推動基層醫療的發展，在18區成立地區康健中心/站，完成發展藍圖，因為這個使命與她當年碩士論文的研究內容有著密切聯繫。過去5年，她按三大原則制定可持續的發展藍圖，以「地區為本、公私合營、醫社合作」的服務模式營運，善用區內網絡及資源，靈活地推動切合社區需要的基層健康服務。她指出，過去的醫療重心均集中在治療、住院、專科及急症服務上，惟基層醫療應是個人和家庭在持續醫護過程中的首個接觸點集中預防。她形容，完善的基層醫療系統能發揮強大的把關作用。經過多年的討論，第一個地區康健中心終於在2019年誕生，其他中心亦在她的任內在全港18區建立起來。透過社區提供的預防性護理，提升市民的健康意識，以至對慢性病患者的管理，陳教授相信這能長遠配合第二及第三層醫療及醫院發展服務，更能有效地善用資源及提升市民健康。
儘管過去5年任期內遇上百年一遇的新冠肺炎疫情，但陳教授堅守使命，得到同事的群策群力，為基層醫療奠基。她解釋，當硬件等基建設施到位後，人才、系統等軟件才能全面發展。陳教授甫卸任局長便重投香港大學醫學院護理學院，期望全力培育新一代的護理專才，提升護理領導水平，及強化現有護理學的課程，進一步深化基層醫療健康元素，讓學術界和業界無縫接軌及研發新的基層醫療護理模式將會是她未來的教研方向。她表示，現時的護士課程較專注在臨床的診治和照顧，相對上較少闗顧到病人出院後的需要。透過強化基層醫療的課程內容，她期望將來的護士更能促進香港市民的全人健康。陳教授同時亦被校長委任為資深顧問，為香港大學的策略性發展作出貢獻。
陳教授於1990年在香港理工大學深造時獲得尤德爵士紀念基金。她認為獎學金的意義，除了是金錢上的實際幫助外，更是鼓勵得獎者們飲水思源，要回饋社會。回饋社會有不同的方式，簡單的如做好自己，在自己的崗位發揮所長，就已經能為社會作出貢獻。陳教授對年輕一輩寄予厚望，並謂無懼困難，而遇上挑戰時，勿忘「迎難而上，全力以赴」!