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Dr. Carmen Wong, Assistant Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has been awarded the 2020 UGC Teaching Award (General Faculty Members) today (28 September), in recognition of her contribution and achievements in medical education, interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral educational collaborations. 

Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, said, “I heartily congratulate Dr. Carmen Wong for gaining this exceptional recognition. Dr. Wong’s enthusiasm in medical education is most impressive. She inspires her students to solve problems with innovative thinking, guides them to develop professional skills and enriches their learning experience. She leads the inter-professional teams of clinicians and tutors to adopt a diversified approach to enhance teaching and learning quality. The University is proud of her achievements."

Dr. Wong is honoured to receive this distinguished award. She hopes to use the award to further innovate professional learning. Dr. Wong said, “This moment would not be possible without a fabulous team which make change happen. I wish to thank my colleagues for their dedicated support, encouragement and unwavering belief in education, as well as our community partners, family doctors and the supporting teams for their assistance in executing new initiatives tirelessly and resolving problems. Thank you to my family, all the students and patients I have journeyed with in the past decade, for their support.”

Novel Use of Design Thinking in Developing Professional Skills to Enhance Teaching and Learning Quality

Having joined CUHK in 2010, Dr. Wong is currently the Assistant Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Medicine, Associate Director of Office of Medical Education, Associate Professor of The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, and Director of the Centre of Research and Promotion of Women's Health. She is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (UK). Dr. Wong is committed to the pursuit of professionalism in higher education. Her novel use of design thinking in developing professional skills ensures results are learner centred and enhance metacognition and skills in a variety of societal and professional contexts; for example, the skills in dealing with emotional patients, as well as understanding and interacting with a wide range of people in society such as ethnic minorities and offenders.

She is dedicated to leading inter-professional teams of clinicians, health professionals and tutors in projects and adopts an interpersonal approach with a combination of blended online and experiential learning and community engagement, practitioner’s debrief and reflective practice through roleplay workshops, video consultations. Her innovations and research are copious in the fields of family medicine training, clinical communication skills and health professions development, with extensive experience in assessment methods.

For the benefit of others, Dr. Wong will utilise the award grant to equip teachers with pedagogy in professionalism, and adopt design thinking to enhance collaborative creativity and innovation in curriculum design amongst teachers, in co-creation with learners and stakeholders. A community of practice will be established within and across disciplines to strengthen international and network connections to create a sustainable and responsive dialogue and resources to improve students’ professional and career development.

Using AR to Promote Academic Integrity

Professor Paul Lai-chuen Lam, Associate Professor of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) was a member of the inter-institutional AIE-AR Team led by Hong Kong Baptist University, which was named the 2020 UGC Teaching Award (Teams) recipient this year. The team has made a contribution by delivering the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to present case-based scenarios which engage students in making decisions related to the critical yet abstract area of academic integrity and ethics. Professor Lam has further applied related concepts to other courses in CUHK.

The Annual Award for Teaching Excellence

The annual UGC Teaching Award was introduced in 2011 to honour those who excel in teaching in the UGC sector. The Award does not only recognise past and present teaching performance and achievements, but also their leadership in and scholarly contribution to teaching and learning within and across universities. Past awardees from CUHK include Professor Isabella Wai-yin Poon, Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice-President and Professor of the Department of Statistics, Professor Shekhar Madhukar Kumta, Assistant Dean (Education), Faculty of Medicine, and Professor of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Professor Leung Mei-yee, Director of University General Education, Dr. Julie Chiu Chu-lee, Deputy Director of the General Education Foundation Programme, Dr. Wong Wing-hung, Associate Director of the General Education Foundation Programme, Professor Emily Chan Ying-yang, Assistant Dean (External Affairs), Faculty of Medicine, and Professor of the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Professor Suzanne So Ho-wai, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology, and Professor Darwin Tat-ming Lau, Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering.