The grind never stops at HKU

Ryan Leung, a student of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), has close bonding with HKU since his childhood as his dad works at HKU as a professor. He has visited HKU's campus on many occasions. However, it wasn't until his dad brought him to a concert held in HKU's Grand Hall that he fell in love with HKU. 

"I remember the moment I stepped into it, I was flabbergasted by how beautiful it was, and I thought to myself - HKU students must be so privileged to have such amazing facilities at a beautiful campus! Fast forward many years, after receiving a last-minute offer from HKU medicine, I accepted without any hesitation! Now, I often end up bumping into my dad on campus!" 

At HKU, Ryan learnt to play hard but also to work harder. "Students here at HKU are all very hardworking, and although I was already quite hardworking in secondary school, that was no longer the case when I arrived here. I'm often surrounded by great curious minds! Of course, they also know how to relax and have fun. I think that's what makes HKU so great!" 

During his third year as the Enrichment year, Ryan chose to take a Master of Science programme at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, majoring in Epidemiology. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has only been able to enjoy it through distance learning – but also because of the pandemic, he was granted a lot of real-life COVID-19 data and scenarios, which made this course more interesting than usual.  

"Often we were put in the position of Health Ministers around the world where we analysed data and discussed possible interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases! I am grateful to have HKU for this Enrichment Year which gave me the opportunity to meet so many bright individuals from around the world and learn more about Public Health in such unprecedented times together." 

"In medicine, anatomy is traditionally taught through textbooks, but here at HKU, some anatomy lectures are delivered through the use of virtual reality, which had been both an interactive and effective method for me to improve my understanding of anatomy as I was able to visualise many of our body structures in 3D! Since the pandemic, many lectures have been pre-recorded and posted online. I was also surprised by the quality of e-Learning material – the professors here really spend a lot of their time and efforts trying to perfect e-Lectures so that students are able to focus and understand their lectures at home despite the other temptations at home." 

"After graduating from HKU, inspired by the recent outbreaks we've seen of COVID and Monkeypox, I hope to work in the Public Health sector specialising in infectious disease Epidemiology."