Honorary Fellow Professor Chung Kwok Hung Tony

Professor Tony CHUNG was born in Sabah, Malaysia. He went to Australia when he was 12 for schooling. He graduated MBBS from the University of Sydney in 1977. After working as a general practitioner for some years, he started O&G specialist training in Australia in 1986. He then came to Hong Kong 3 years later for family reasons. Professor CHUNG often described himself as an accidental academic, but after 10 years of accomplishment, he was appointed Chairman of the Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2000, a position he stood down from in 2013. He remains Associate Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the university today, a position he was first appointed to in 2002. He was also the Chief of Service in O&G at the Prince of Wales Hospital from 1999 to 2007.

Throughout his career in Hong Kong, he served the Hong Kong College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists in various capacities, and was President from 2007 to 2009. He strongly advocated, sometimes in the face of opposition, an inclusive and comprehensive development of O&G training in Hong Kong, and in particular the College’s subspecialty programmes. Together with presidents who preceded and succeeded him, he ensured that Hong Kong retained its international reputation for training in obstetrics & gynaecology.

His contribution to research is substantial not only in what he did himself but also what he encouraged and enabled others to do. His pioneering work on conservative management of miscarriage, and on postnatal depression are amongst the most frequently cited. Research flourished during his chairmanship of the CU department, with more than 900 papers published, and more importantly, these papers have been cited more than 14,000 times. He served on the Medicine and Biology Panel of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong between 2008-2012, and the Health and Medicine Research Fund of the Hong Kong Government (from 2013). These appointments are testament to the high regard he held in the scientific community.

His contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate medical and midwifery education in Hong Kong and his leadership of our specialty, in good and difficult times, has been a distinguished one. Amongst his most far sighted decisions was his refusal to close the Prince of Wales School of Midwifery when every other hospital in Hong Kong found it expedient to do so. This decision was completely vindicated as times changed, and Hong Kong faced critical shortages of midwives.

Internationally, he was conferred Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2003, and the Fellow of the Academy of Medicine of Singapore in 2007. He is an Honorary Professor of the Sydney Medical School, his al-ma mater.

In summary, Professor CHUNG is a worthy recipient of the Honorary Fellowship of our college in recognition of his 25 years of service, both local and international, to our College, our specialty and profession.

Mr President, I present Professor Tony CHUNG, for the Honorary Fellowship of The Hong Kong College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.