Statistics
2014 Health Manpower Survey
Summary of the Characteristics of Chinese Medicine Practitioners Enumerated
I. Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered
1.1 The following three types of Chinese medicine practitioners were covered in the 2014 Health Manpower Survey (HMS):
| (i) | Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners |
| Refer to registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were registered with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at the survey reference date – 31.8.2014. | |
| (ii) | Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration |
| Refer to Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration who were registered with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at the survey reference date – 31.8.2014. | |
| (iii) | Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners |
| Refer to listed Chinese medicine practitioners whose names had been entered on the list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners maintained by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at the survey reference date – 31.8.201 |
1.2 Of the 9 491 Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 6 726 (70.9%) were registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 63 (0.7%) were Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and 2 702 (28.5%) were listed Chinese medicine
II. Response Rate
2.1 Of the 9 491 Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 2 542 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 26.8%. Analysed by type of Chinese medicine practitioners, the response rate of registered Chinese medicine practitioners was 31.0%, while that of Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and listed Chinese medicine practitioners were 33.3% and 16.1% respectively.
III. Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners
3.1 Of the 6 726 registered Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 2 087 responded to the survey. Among the respondents, 1 853 (88.8%) reported that they were economically active (active)*† in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014 and 234 (11.2%) were economically inactive (inactive)*‡ in the local Chinese medicine profession.
| * | In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong. |
| † | "Economically active" registered Chinese medicine practitioners comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners. "Employed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those registered Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those registered Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the local Chinese medicine profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| ‡ | "Economically inactive" registered Chinese medicine practitioners comprised registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed".Chart A: Activity Status of Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered |
3.2 Of the 1 853 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 1 812 (97.8%) were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 18 (1.0%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, 17 (0.9%) were seeking jobs and six (0.3%) believed that work was not available, were starting business on a subsequent date or expecting to return to their original jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 3.4 below were based on the 1 812 responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
Chart A : Activity Status of Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered
| Note: | * | Figure refers to the number of responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| † | Figure refers to the number of responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) believed that work was not available, starting business on a subsequent date or expecting to return to their original jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. | |
| ‡ | Figure refers to the number of responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners who reported undertaking study, emigrated, etc. |
3.3 Of the 234 inactive registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 28 reported practising in the Mainland, 11 reported practising overseas and 195 reported not seeking jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. Among the 195 inactive registered Chinese medicine practitioners who reported not seeking jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession, the main reasons included: 76 (39.0%) were working in other professions, 57 (29.2%) were retired, 22 (11.3%) were engaged in household duties and 18 (9.2%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, etc..
3.4 Three active registered Chinese medicine practitioners did not indicate gender. Of the remaining 1 809 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 1 197 (66.2%) were male and 612 (33.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 196. Apart from 22 registered Chinese medicine practitioners who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 1 790 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 58.0 years. The median age of the active female Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 52.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 62.0 years.
3.5 The responding active registered Chinese medicine practitioners were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by sector for the main job showed that 86.7% were working in the private sector, followed by the Hospital Authority (4.7%), the subvented sector (4.6%) and the Government and academic sectors (2.6%).
3.6 The median age of the active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 60.0 years for those working in the private sector, followed by 37.0 years for those working in the Government and academic sectors, 33.0 years for those working in the subvented sector and 30.0 years for those working in the Hospital Authority.
3.7 Of the 1 812 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 73.3% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 13.9% on bone-setting and 9.2% on acupuncture.
3.8 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 812 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 42.0 hours. Among them, 213 (11.8%) registered Chinese medicine practitioners were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 12.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.
3.9 Of the 1 812 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 59.6% had passed the Licensing Examination (Section 61(1)(a) of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance) as their basic qualifications. Listed Chinese medicine practitioners who had been exempted from the Licensing Examination (Section 93 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance) and who had passed the Registration Assessment (Section 94 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance) accounted for 23.0% and 10.9% respectively.
3.10 Of the 1 812 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 973 (53.7%) received / were receiving additional training. Of the 973 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners with additional training, 40 (4.1%) had not yet completed the additional training, 316 (32.5%) held Master’s Degree, 235 (24.2%) held Certificate, 162 (16.6%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 106 (10.9%) held Diploma and 103 (10.6%) held Doctoral Degree as the highest qualification.
3.11 Among those registered Chinese medicine practitioners who received / were receiving additional training, some of them selected more than one field of additional training. The total number of count of active registered Chinese medicine practitioners who received / were receiving additional training was 2 651, in which 11.9% received / were receiving additional training in acupuncture and moxibustion of Chinese medicine, 9.7% in Chinese materia medica, 9.3% in Chinese medicine (general practice), 6.8% in internal medicine of Chinese medicine, 6.4% in orthopaedics and traumatology of Chinese medicine and 5.2% in treatise on exogenous febrile diseases.
3.12 Of the 973 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners who received / were receiving additional training, 410 (42.1%) received / were receiving additional training in one field of additional training. Among them, 29.3% received / were receiving additional training in acupuncture and moxibustion of Chinese Medicine, 16.6% in Chinese medicine (general practice), 10.2% in orthopaedics and traumatology of Chinese medicine, 8.0% in internal medicine of Chinese medicine and 5.9% in integration of Chinese-Western medicine.
| * | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration had spent most of their working time. |
Chart B : Number of Field(s) of Additional Training Received / Being Received by Active Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Enumerated
Total number of active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated = 1 812
3.13 Regarding Continuing Education in Chinese Medicine (CME) activities, 1 710 (94.4%) of the active registered Chinese medicine practitioners reported that they had participated in CME activities in 2014, 74 (4.1%) had not participated in any CME activities and 28 (1.5%) did not report whether they had participated in CME activities or not. Among the 1 710 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated who had participated in CME activities, the distribution of CME points attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 10 points (7.4%), 11 to 20 points (23.0%), 21 to 30 points (14.6%), 31 to 40 points (9.2%) and more than 40 points (45.8%).
IV. Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration
4.1 Among the 21 responding Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration, all were economically active (active)*† and practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014.
Chart C : Activity Status of Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration Covered
| * | In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active／inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong. |
| † | "Economically active" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration. "Employed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration referred to those Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration referred to Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration who (a) were not practising in the local Chinese medicine profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
4.2 Of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 15 (71.4%) were male and six (28.6%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 250. The median age of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 62.0 years. The median age of the active female Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 63.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 62.0 years.
4.3 The responding active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by the sector for the main job showed that 57.1% of the active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration were working in the academic sector, followed by those working in the Hospital Authority (28.6%) and the subvented sector (14.3%).
4.4 The median age of the active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 67.5 years for those working in the Hospital Authority, followed by 51.0 years for those working in the academic sector and the subvented sector.
4.5 Of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated, 57.1% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 19.0% on acupuncture, 14.3% on bone-setting.
4.6 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 40.0 hours. Among them, two (9.5%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty).
4.7 Of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated, six (28.6%) received / were receiving additional training. Of the six active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration with additional training, two (33.3%) held Bachelor’s Degree as the highest qualification.
4.8 Of the six Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration with additional training, five (83.3%) received / were receiving additional training in one field of additional training. Among them, 20.0% received / were receiving additional training in acupuncture and moxibustion of Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine (general practices), integration of Chinese-Western medicine, internal medicine of Chinese medicine and training programme attended before the Chinese medicine practitioners licensing examination.
| * | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration had spent most of their working time. |
V. Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners
5.1 Among the 434 responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners, 336 (77.4%) were economically active*† (active) in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014 and 98 (22.6%) were economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local Chinese medicine profession.
5.2 Of the 336 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners, 328 (97.6%) practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, five (1.5%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, two (0.6%) were seeking jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession and one (0.3%) believed that work was not available in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 5.4 below were based on the 328 responding active listed Chinese medicine practitioners who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014. As some information was missing from certain questionnaires, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
5.3 Among the 98 inactive listed Chinese medicine practitioners, six reported practising in the Mainland, six reported practising overseas and 86 reported not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. The main reasons included: 35 (40.7%) were retired, 30 (34.9%) were working in other professions, six (7.0%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need and three (3.5%) were engaged in household duties, etc..
| * | In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active／inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong. |
| † | "Economically active" listed Chinese medicine practitioners comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners. "Employed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those listed Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those listed Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| ‡ | "Economically inactive" listed Chinese medicine practitioners comprised listed Chinese medicine practitioners who were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed". |
Chart D : Activity Status of Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered
| Note: | * | Figure refers to the number of responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| † | Figure refers to the number of responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) believed that work was not available in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. | |
| ‡ | Figure refers to the number of responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners who reported undertaking study, etc. | |
| Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. |
5.4 Of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 265 (80.8%) were male and 63 (19.2%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 421. Apart from three listed Chinese medicine practitioners who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 325 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 62.0 years. The median age of the active female listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 60.5 years and that of their male counterparts was 63.0 years.
5.5 The responding active listed Chinese medicine practitioners were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distributed by sector for the main job showed that 98.5% of the active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated were working in the private sector.
| * | Main jobs referred to the job in which the listed Chinese medicine practitioners had spent most of their working time. |
5.6 Of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 51.8% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 30.5% on bone-setting and 10.4% on acupuncture.
5.7 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 40.0 hours. Among them, 33 (10.1%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.
5.8 Of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 159 (48.5%) received / were receiving additional training. Of the 159 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners with additional training, eight (5.0%) had not yet completed the additional training, 75 (47.2%) held Certificate, 34 (21.4%) held Diploma and 27 (17.0%) held Bachelor’s Degree as the highest qualification.
5.9 Among those listed Chinese medicine practitioners with additional training, some of them might select more than one field of additional training. The total number of count of active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 544 in which 17.1% received additional training in Chinese materia medica, 14.0% in Chinese medicine (general practice), 8.6% in training programme attended before the Chinese medicine practitioners licensing examination, 7.0% in orthopaedics and traumatology of Chinese medicine and 6.1% in acupuncture and moxibustion of Chinese medicine.
5.10 Of the 159 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners with additional training, 33 (20.8%) received / were receiving additional training in one field of additional training. Among them, 24.2% received / were receiving additional training in Chinese medicine (general practice) and orthopaedics and traumatology of Chinese medicine, 18.2% in training programme attended before the Chinese medicine practitioners licensing examination, 9.1% in internal medicine of Chinese medicine and 6.1% in acupuncture and moxibustion of Chinese medicine.
Chart E : Number of Field(s) of Additional Training Received / Being Received by Active Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners Enumerated/p>
Total number of active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated = 328
VI. Trend Analysis
6.1 The number of registered Chinese medicine practitioners covered increased from 5 554 in 2008 to 6 726 in 2014. However, the number of Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration covered decreased from 88 in 2008 to 63 in 2014 while the number of listed Chinese medicine practitioners covered decreased from 2 843 in 2008 to 2 702 in 2014.
Chart F : Number of Chinese Medicine Practitioners Enumerated by Year (2008, 2011 and 2014)
| Note: | Figures refer to Chinese medicine practitioners registered with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong or entered on the list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners maintained by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at 31st August of the respective years. |
6.2 The median age of the active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated remained largely stable (58.0 years in 2008, 2011 and 2014). The median age of the active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated varied between 59.0 years to 62.0 years, while the median age of the active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated increased from 57.0 years to 62.0 years between 2008 and 2014 (Table A).
6.3 The sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated decreased from 264 in 2008 to 196 in 2014. From 2008 to 2014, the sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated varied between 117 to 250, while the sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated varied between 268 to 421 (Table A).
6.4 From 2008 to 2014, the largest proportion of active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated were working in the private sector, which employed more than 85% of the registered Chinese medicine practitioners. A similar distribution was observed in listed Chinese medicine practitioners with more than 95% of the listed Chinese medicine practitioners working in the private sector during the same period. However, the proportion of active registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were working in the subvented sector increased from 3.0% in 2008 to 4.6% in 2014. The proportion of active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated working in the academic sector increased from 54.1% to 57.1% from 2008 to 2014, while that in the Hospital Authority increased from 16.2% to 28.6% and that in the subvented sector decreased from 29.7% to 14.3% (Table A).
Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Chinese Medicine Practitioners Enumerated (2008, 2011 and 2014)
| Note: | * | Figures refer to Chinese medicine practitioners registered with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong or entered on the list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners maintained by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at 31st August of the respective years. |
| There may be slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total due to rounding. |
VII. Limitations of Findings
7.1 The survey findings only represented the situation as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2014. Analysis on the characteristics of Chinese medicine practitioners performed was based on the data collected on those enumerated Chinese medicine practitioners only. As the characteristics of the non-responding Chinese medicine practitioners may be different from those who responded, the findings may not fully reflect the characteristics of all Chinese medicine practitioners practising in Hong Kong.
7.2 Since the number of Chinese medicine practitioners involved in some of the results was small, readers should interpret the relevant statistics with caution.