Newsletter No. 410

8 No. 410, 4.1.2013 古明達教授 矯形外科及創傷學系教授 2012年教資會傑出教學獎得主 你為何選擇矯形外科作為專科？ 那要從我青少年時代在孟買的經歷說起。我當時（現在也是）酷愛戶外活動，熱中 參與童軍和紅十字會，以及各種社會服務。那時，爸爸一位好友遇上意外受了重 傷，雙腿骨折。爸爸和我趕往救援，送他入醫院。看到醫院內各項完善的設備和急 救程序，實在眼界大開。其後，那朋友在醫院漸漸康復，而我也愛上了醫學，從此立 志從醫，懸壺濟世。 我在印度完成醫學教育，其時有關保護童工的法例甚為寬鬆，很多兒童手部受傷， 復原工作卻做得並不理想，令我有點失望。1984年我來香港參加醫學會議，遇上梁 秉中教授（現任中大矯形外科及創傷學榮休講座教授），他後來成了我的良師。我 對這裏的顯微外科印象深刻，1989年我到香港進修，並開始任教矯形外科。 過去二十年，你認為香港的醫療教育有何轉變？ 與初來港時比較，香港轉變了很多。首先，香港人較以前精明，體驗也愈趨豐富， 對最佳實務和最新的醫療發展倍加關注。他們的想法和理想不但變得更明確和清 晰，還有實踐的決心。今天的社會着重效率，這二十年間，新教學模式不斷湧現。社 會在前進，教學也要同步呼應。 至於醫學教育，在這些年就變得多了。師生關係密切多了，老師對學生更友善和開 明，也更敏於留意他們的局限。現時教學是完全以學生為中心，實習是最重要的部 分，是協助學生過渡至真正醫生的時期，因此，我十分重視每年對於眾多醫科實習 生的輔導工作，希望在這最易受影響的階段，令他們學懂盡職，培養責任感，並學 習接納犯錯。 為甚麼電子學習平台對醫學教育那麼重要？ 以「創新進展性評估個案研究網上學習平台」為例，學生可模擬處理不同複雜程度 的個案，大大補充臨床教學的不足。在移動通訊科技方面，縱然仍要購買一些不能 自製的材料，但我們已自行研發出好些軟件。 獲得教資會傑出教學獎後，有何改變？ 獲獎讓我深感高興，然而對我的工作和生活並沒帶來甚麼改變。所得的獎金將用 作舉辦工作坊，協助醫護界人士和學生來作知識轉移。我希望這類工作坊對中大 同仁和校外同行均有幫助。 與學生的相處中，有何難忘經歷？ 我曾與一位聰穎的學生討論腫瘤問題，她提出一個甚為根本的疑問，儘管基本，卻 包含洞見，使我印象深刻。這是一道難有答案的問題，卻促成了一項研究計劃，且 取得教資會資助。我衷心感激這位學生堅持不懈地追問一些發人深思的問題，誰 說真理或智慧不會源於基本或微不足道的疑問。 你喜愛遠足和攝影嗎？ 我喜歡遠足、攀山和攝影。在香港我常去遠足，每次休假返印度，也會去行山。這是 我向大自然表達崇敬的方法之一。 Prof. Shekhar Kumta Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Recipient of 2012 UGC Award for Teaching Excellence Why did you choose orthopaedics as your specialty? This goes back to my childhood and youth in Mumbai. I was (and still am) very keen on outdoor activities and was an avid participant in the Scouts and the Red Cross, as well as other forms of community services. It was when I was young that an accident occurred to a close friend of my father’s, in which he sustained considerable injury with his legs fractured. My father and I rushed to his rescue. We took him to the hospital where my eyes were open to a full array of the facilities, equipment and procedures of the emergency treatment regime. The family friend gradually recovered in the hospital and I became captivated. I decided there and then that medicine would be my career and helping others as a medical practitioner, my goal in life. I completed my medical education in India, and it was a time when the laws against child labour were relatively lax and there were a lot of cases of children’s hand injuries. I was rather dismayed by the fact that restoration was not always done as well as it should be. Then in 1984 I came to Hong Kong for a medical conference, and made the acquaintance of Prof. P.C. Leung (now Emeritus Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of CUHK), who later became my mentor. I was very impressed by the standard of microsurgery in Hong Kong and, in 1989, I moved here to further my training and then started a teaching career in orthopaedics. Have you observed any changes in medical education in Hong Kong in the last 20 years? There have been a lot of changes since the time I first arrived in Hong Kong. In the first place, Hong Kong people have become much smarter than before. Their exposure has broadened, and their awareness of good practice standards and the most up-to-date advancements has never been higher. Their ideas and ideals are now much more focused, and their determination to achieve is much stronger. There is now a much greater emphasis on efficiency, and during these two decades new learning models have evolved. Society is on the move, and teaching should resonate with society. Medical education, however, has undergone a lot of changes in these years. There is now a lot more rapport between the teachers and the students, and there is a great deal of friendliness, openness, and a high degree of sensitivity to the limits of the students on the part of the teachers. Teaching is now thoroughly student-centred, and the internship, which is the transition from being a student to actual medical practice, is all-important. I make a point of seeing and counselling a good number of interns every year because they are undergoing a vulnerable phase, when they must learn to accept responsibility and the concept of duty, and also develop the willingness to accept mistakes. Why are e-learning platforms so important in medical education? Our Formative Assessment Case Studies (FACS), for example, is a web-based, interactive platform where students learn how to manage simulated cases of various levels of complexity, and is found to be a very helpful complement to our clinical teaching. We have also done a lot of work on mobile technologies, and have developed some software on our own although we still rely on purchased materials where we cannot produce them in-house. Has the UGC Award for Teaching Excellence changed anything? The award, while much appreciated, has not brought about any change to my work and my private life. But the award money will be used to run workshops which will facilitate knowledge and skills transfer among medical and health students and practitioners. I hope these workshops will be of help to colleagues both within and beyond CUHK. What was the most memorable encounter you have had with a student? I was once engaged in a discussion with a very brilliant student on the subject of tumours. She asked me a rather fundamental question which, basic as it was, greatly impressed me for the insight it carried. It was a question that would not admit of any answers, but it inspired a research project which led to a UGC grant. I was deeply grateful to this student for her persistent and thought-provoking questions. Basic or insignificant as the subject is, no one can tell whether great truth or wisdom would not reside in a simple question. Are you a hiker and a photographer? Yes I am very keen on hiking, and I enjoy mountain-climbing and photography as well. I hike a lot in Hong Kong, and in the Indian mountains too every time I go back for vacation. This is my way of paying respect to Nature. 請掃描QR碼 閱讀全文版 Scan the QR code for the full version Photos of Prof. Shekhar Kumta in this issue are by Keith Hiro