For those who have submitted the application already but have yet to send us your payment, please send your payment receipt to us by December4, 2026 by the following means:

Email: fmpctpg@hku.hk
Fax   : 2518 5659   
Post  : FMPC, 3/F Ap Lei Chau Clinic, 161 Main Street, Ap Lei Chau, HK.

 

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Background

Dermatological problems are frequently presented by patients in the primary care setting, either as the main complaint or as complications of other illnesses. However, it is widely recognised that there has been relatively little undergraduate training to meet the need of healthcare practitioners in today's primary care setting. As a result, many of them have, over the years, attended various stand-alone lectures or seminars in order to improve their skills in looking after skin problems.

By restructuring the Certificate Course into 4 half-day classes (from January to March 2027, one Saturday afternoon each month) with focuses on providing clinical case illustrations, the Course aims to provide a comprehensive review of the dermatological problems commonly seen in primary care setting and to update the participants in the diagnosis and management of these conditions.

Objectives

• Describe the basic anatomy and physiology of the skin, hair, and nails.
• Use standard dermatological terminology to accurately describe common skin lesions.
• Recognize common dermatological conditions encountered in community settings.
• Understand the impact of skin diseases on physical, psychological, occupational, and social well-being.
• Identify common skin manifestations associated with systemic diseases.
• Apply principles of prevention, patient education, and self-management support in dermatological care.
• Demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach to managing skin conditions in the community.
• Recognize dermatological conditions requiring urgent referral or specialist assessment.
• Develop community-based strategies to improve skin health and patient outcomes.

Course Content

Four sessions of will be held on Saturday afternoon (2:00 – 6:00/6:30 pm) on a monthly basis between January and March 2027.

Date	Topic	Speakers (TBA)
Saturday, January 9, 2027	Introduction to Community Dermatology
	Skin Disease Beyond the Skin
	Common Facial Dermatoses in Primary Care
	Dermoscopy for primary care
Saturday, January 30, 2027	Eczema and Contact Dermatitis
	Urticaria and angioedema
	Psoriasis and Chronic Inflammatory Skin Disease in Primary Care
	Advanced therapy for eczema in primary care
	QUIZ # 1 (In-class quiz on content from Saturday, January 9, 2026)
Saturday, February 27, 2027	Common Community Skin Infections
	Skin Care and Wound Care in Community Practice
	Skin Tumours and Common Skin Lesions
	Office based dermatological procedures
	QUIZ #2 (In-class quiz on content from Saturday, January 30, 2026)
Saturday, March 20, 2027	Common and Severe Drug Reactions in the Community
	Geriatric Dermatoses in the Community including aged related changes to skin
	Hair , nail and scalp disorder in primary care
	Genital dermatoses and sexually transmitted disorders in primary care
	QUIZ #3 (In-class quiz on content from Saturday, February 27, 2026)

*Topics may be revised in future

Schedule

The Course requires an attendance of one session (up to 4.5 hours) per month. The seminars and workshops will be held on Saturday afternoons.

Venue

Centennial Campus, Central Podium Levels - Ground (CPD-G, Cheng Yu Tung Tower)

Language of Instruction

Language of Instruction

English (supplemented with Cantonese)

Award of Certificate

The Certificate in Clinical Dermatology will be awarded to the participants who have enrolled in the full Course and attended at least 3 of the 4 of the sessions and achieved a satisfactory mark on the course assessments.

The attendance policy for this course encourages in-person participation, while allowing 
students to attend up to 1 classes via Zoom. Pre-registration is required for Zoom 
attendance, and up to 20% of enrolled participants may attend remotely for each session. 
A minimum attendance of 75% of the sessions is required to pass the Course. 

Course Assessment
Continuous Assessment (100%)

1. Class Quizzes (50% of total mark)
4 online quizzes will be conducted throughout the semester following the completion of major topic blocks. The first 3 quizzes will be completed in class, while the 4th quiz will be completed at home. 
• Quiz 1: January 30, 2027 [in class]
• Quiz 2: February 27, 2027 [in class]
• Quiz 3: March 20, 2027 [in class]
• Quiz 4: April 12, 2027 [at home, done before this date starting from April 9, 2027]
The quizzes may comprise multiple-choice questions, image-based questions, and matching exercises. For those who miss the class, the assessment will be available online and will be timed for 30 minutes, they need to be completed within 5 days of the quiz date.

2. Reflective Essay (50% of total mark)
Word Limit: 500 words (±10%)
Reflect on a patient encounter or learning experience from the Clinical Dermatology in the Community Elective that enhanced your understanding of dermatological care in a community or primary care setting. 
Written assignment is to be submitted on or before April, 5 2027. 

Passing mark is a 60% overall. 

CME Accreditations

We plan to apply for CME, CNE, CPD, and CPE accreditation from the respective professional associations where applicable.

Course Advisor

Prof CHAN Hin Lee Henry
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology
Honorary Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Course Co-ordinator

Dr WONG Sze Man Christina
Consultant, Queen Mary Hospital
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

List of Speakers

Dr YEUNG Chi Keung
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr LEUNG Sze Kee
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

 

Dr LO Kuen Kong
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr HO King Man

Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr LI Kam Hop George
Specialist in Plastic Surgery

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

  

Dr WONG Sai Yin Samson
Specialist in Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Associate Consultant, Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Pathology, Tuen Mun Hospital

   

Dr IP Fong Cheng Francis
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Consultant Dematologist i/c, Department of Health, HKSAR

   

Dr CHAN Chun Yin Johnny
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr CHAN Wai Man Mandy
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr CHAN Wai Sze Agnes
Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology

Associate Consultant, Prince of Wales Hospital

 

Prof LI Hei Philip
Specialist in Immunology and Allergy

Honorary  Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr CHUNG Man Ho Martin

Associate Consultant, Queen Mary Hospital

Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology, Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Dr CHENG Ka Chun Adrian
Associate Consultant, Fung Yiu King Hospital

Specialist in Dermatology & Venereology, Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

 

Executive Summary

Background

There is an increasing worldwide trend to strengthen the quality of primary care doctors by further postgraduate studies. Although overseas experiences have indicated improvements in doctors’ clinical practice and other areas after taking postgraduate courses, little is known about the possible effect of these courses in enabling doctors to handle cases which would reduce burden of specialists and their participation in more demanding community healthcare activities. A study that aimed to fill the gap in this respect was conducted in 2008 and the Certificate Course in Clinical Dermatology (CCCD) was selected as its main subject.

Aims

1. To examine the learning outcomes of the CCCD, including improvement in clinical skill, patient care and participation in community healthcare
2. To document the practice characteristics of the graduates before and after the Course, including the number of patients and cases handled in relation to the course subject, level of confidence and the percentage of referral to dermatologists
3. To examine the doctors’ expectations of postgraduate studies, and the long-term effect upon graduation, e.g. lifelong learning and updating of medical knowledge, initiative in further contribution to community heathcar

Methods

A quantitative survey and a pre- and post-Course quiz assessment were used to evaluate the learning outcomes of the students.

A questionnaire designed by the research team was sent to all graduates of CCCD of year 2007 between August and December 2008 after its pilot test in mid-July of the same year. To enhance the response rate, three rounds of invitation were sent followed by telephone reminders. The questionnaire itself was anonymous but was coded with a reference number to identify the respondent for the lucky draw prizes or for deletion from the next round of invitation.

The students of CCCD of the class Oct-Dec 2008, who were still studying the course in that period, were invited to take a pre-Course quiz at the first session on 8 October 2008 and a post-Course quiz at the final session on 17 December 2008. The two quizzes were exactly the same, with 20 questions in multiple-choice format (5 options), given 30 seconds answering time for each question.

Results

Questionnaire survey

Out of the 163 questionnaires sent to the graduates, 2 postal addresses were invalid. We have received 69 replies after three rounds of invitation, with a response rate of 42.9% (69/161). Of the respondents, 65.7% were male and 34.3% female, 78.5% were in community practice while 21.5% in hospital practice, 66.2% were in private service and 33.8% were in public service. Majority (82.5%) of the respondents were primary doctors, and the mean years after graduation from medical school was 17.3±10.70.

The respondents rated the reasons for studying the Course in descending order of importance: 1) Update clinical knowledge (98.6%), 2) Improve care for patients with dermatological problems (97.1%), 3) Lifelong learning (94.2%), 4) Interest in clinical dermatology (90.7%), 5) Meet job demand (69.1%) and 6) CME accreditations (39.7%).

The rated major learning outcomes, in descending order of agree?ment: 1) I have paid more attention to patients with dermatological problems (86.9%), 2) I have increased my confidence in distinguishing different types of dermatological problems (85.5%), 3) I have modified my approach to patients with dermatological problems (85.5%), 4) I have increased my interest in lifelong learning through additional training (78.3%), 5) I have increased my interest in pursuing other postgraduate studies (68.1%) and 6) My career opportunities have enhanced (36.7%).

There were significant changes in the number of patients with dermatological problems seen by the respondents per day before and after the Course. More respondents saw a larger number of patients with dermatological problems after the Course. Of the 33 respondents who were not on a fixed salary, there were significant increases in the percentage of income contributed by seeing these patients after the Course.

Respondents rated their confidence in diagnosing and managing common dermatological problems. Before the Course, less than two-third of the respondents were confident of diagnosing (61.8%) and managing (58.0%) common dermatological problems such as eczema, allergy, drug eruptions, cutaneous infections. After the Course, most graduates were confident of diagnosing (91.2%) and managing (88.4%) common dermatological problems.

We also asked if the graduates were confident in diagnosing malignant skin tumors. Only 45.5% of respondents were confident in this before the Course. The proportion of respondents being confident increased to 72.1% after the Course.

There were significant changes in the percentage of referrals of patients with dermatological problems to dermatologist after the Course. The mean of the percentage of referrals decreased from 31.9% to 23.5% after the Course. There were also significant changes in the percentage of patients being referred to dermatologist at first consultation after the Course. The mean of the percentage of patients being referred to dermatologist at first consultation decreased from 34.1% to 24.6% after the Course.

Graduates were asked if they were interested in following up patients with chronic dermatological problems. The combined percentage of agree and strongly agree increased from 60.3% to 77.9% after the Course.

Most (84.0%) respondents were satisfied with this Course, and 81.1% would recommend it to other doctors. increased confidence or knowledge in caring dermatological problems were considered as the most important impact of the Course.

Pre- and post-Course quiz assessment

Out of the 27 students of the class Oct-Dec 2008, 17 had participated in both the pre- and post-Course quiz assessment, giving a response rate of 63.0%. Of the 20 questions with a total score 20, most (82.4%) participants had improvement in score with an average of 3.2 marks after the Course.

Conclusion

The results show that the Course is effective in improving primary care doctors’ knowledge, confidence and attitude towards looking after patients with common dermatological problems. There are significant changes in the practice characteristics of the graduates after the Course, including increased number of patients and cases handled in relation to dermatology, and decreased percentage of referral to dermatologist. Besides, most graduates have increased their interest in lifelong learning through additional training or pursuing other postgraduate studies.

Lam TP, Yeung CK, Lam KF. What are the learning outcomes of a short postgraduate training course in dermatology for primary care doctors?. BMC Medical Education 2011, 11:20
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6920-11-20.pdf

Tel: (852) 2518 5659

Fax: (852) 2814 7475

Email: fmpctpg@hku.hk