Whether it is preparing for an admission exam or entering an overseas or local educational institution, Hong Kong is flush with organisations that can help ease the process.
For example, Arch Education is offering a medical admissions preparatory series this week aimed at Form Five and Six students planning to study medicine in Hong Kong or in Britain. Re-applicants would also benefit from attending the sessions, says Arch Education co-founder Jennifer Ma.
“Medical undergraduate offers are increasingly competitive to secure,” she says. “The Medical Admissions Prep Series is the first programme in Hong Kong where top medical practitioners and trainers are invited from the UK to deliver an intensive workshop to medical applicants.”
The three sessions will run from 9am to 5.30pm on 17, 18 and 19 July. The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) will be covered on the first day, followed by the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) on the second day and the Intensive Interview Training on the final day.
“[Our programme] is the only fully interactive UKCAT course that focuses on the five exam components: quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning, verbal reasoning, decision analysis and situational judgment,” Ma says. “Mastering the BMAT adopts the innovative approach to section three of the exam (essay) while the medical interview course will cover 10 crucial sections of the medical school interview and focus on discriminator questions – those which universities use to separate excellent candidates from the good ones.
“Unlike other courses, [our series] focuses on difficult areas such as ethics, law and current events in medicine. It also has a unique structure for students to use when answering questions in these areas,” Ma adds.
At the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), a Higher Diploma in Landscape Architecture has just been launched.
Professional core modules include history and theory of landscape architecture, landscape design studio, landscape visualisation, principles of landscape architecture, professional practice, expanded studies and a graduation project. It is a full-time two-year programme.
“The programme lays a foundation of both design philosophy and technical knowledge for students who intend to pursue the landscape architecture profession,” says Sara Wong, senior lecturer at the school’s department of product and interior design. “It provides the background training in basic design skills, planting design, landscape architecture theory and history, technology, and visual communication, for the students to practise or to advance to further studies in landscape architecture.”
“It also aims to cultivate a holistic approach to design education that encompasses conceptual and professional concerns leading to graduates’ capability of independent decision-making,” she adds.
Graduates could find jobs as landscape architectural assistants, project assistants and technical officers working for the government, architectural consultants, engineering and contracting companies, private corporations, and developers.
Graduates can apply for admission to the BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture programme at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, under the Vocational Training Council.
“They can continue to further their studies in relevant master’s programmes, sit for exams for membership in professional organisations, and be qualified as Registered Landscape Architects,” Wong says.
Over at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the department of computer science and engineering is offering a Master of Science in Information Technology (MSc-IT).
“The programme provides students with a strong theoretical foundation in all the areas of IT,” says Jogesh Muppala, MSc-IT programme director and associate professor at the department. “The courses are designed to give students insights into the application areas of all the subject materials that they learn in the courses. This dual emphasis on strong theoretical foundation and application, and skill-set training, provides our students with powerful training to meet the future needs of the IT industry.”
Students can complete the course part time in 20 months or full time in 12 months. To graduate, they must complete 30 credits of coursework.
“The courses are designed for those who wish to obtain broad-based and leading-edge skills in information technology,” Muppala says. “Our aim is to make its graduates more marketable and also better prepared for more challenging career paths.
“Our goal is to prepare our students to take on leadership roles in the IT industry, not as entry-level programmers,” Muppala says.
“Indeed, based on the employment trends seen in graduates from our programme, we are increasingly noticing this trend. People already in the IT industry would find that our programme offers a major stepping-stone to give them upward mobility in their career,” Muppala adds.
