Page 7 - CUHK MEDICAL ALUMNI Newsletter Issue 2 Vol 6 2017

FEATURES
06

STUDY OF LAW SHARPENS

OBSTETRICIAN’S SKILLS IN REASONING

AND CRITICAL THINKING

”Legal issues tended to crop up in all aspects of
medicine, especially in obstetrics and gynaecology.”

- Dr Yvonne Cheng Kwun-yue

（鄭昆瑜醫生, MBChB 2004）

”Medicine is the one profession which Her outlook on life has changed somewhat,
deals with lots of legal or ethical compared to her much younger days
issues,” she points out. ”It is especially when she was always looking for ways to
true in obstetrics because you will keep busy. Nowadays, she does not take
come across many situations that her work home and tries spending more
require legal and ethical considerations.” quality time with her child. ”I know now if I
don’t strike a work-life balance, I won’t last
She cites an example of the debate long in the field,” she says.
involving miscarried foetuses which are
less than 24 weeks. ”The dilemma is Dr Cheng believes CUHK has taught
…should parents be allowed to take it her to be passionate in whatever she
home to be buried because legally, a does. ”The Faculty of Medicine’s
foetus is only considered as having ‘life’ motto…Transforming our Passion into
at 24 weeks of gestation,” she explains. Perfection…tells students to follow their
passion and strive for the best.
or Dr Yvonne Cheng, boredom is a Dr Cheng also recalls a case where an
Fword seldom found in her vocabulary. abnormality was discovered in one of a
She is always looking for new challenges. set of twins while in the womb. ”When we
So it was no surprise when she took diagnosed the abnormality, it was already
up law soon after graduating as an beyond 24 weeks…so legally, we weren’t
obstetrician.
allowed to terminate the pregnancy.
”I was young then,” she recalls. ”I had However, we were concerned that this
just graduated. My sister was studying abnormality could affect the other twin
law and I thought it was so cool. And I and the health of the mother.
wanted the challenge, too.”
”So in order for the other baby and
She enrolled in a part-time law course the mother to have better prospects,
at University of London and after we applied to the court for approval to
juggling for three years between her terminate the twin with the abnormality.” ”This is what makes the CUHK medical
work at the United Christian Hospital community very strong and very unique.
and going for classes in the evenings, Dr Cheng, who specialises in fetal That’s why I ended up working for the
she finally obtained her Bachelor of medicine, says a lot of critical analyses Faculty,” she says.
Laws degree, LLB, in 2008. are needed in her research work and
her legal background has helped Dr Cheng is advising students to really
Dr Cheng, who joined the Prince of sharpen her skills at reasoning, logic think about other aspects of medicine
Wales Hospital in 2011, became a and critical thinking. rather than just concentrating on
clinical assistant professor in 2013. medical knowledge.
She says she is glad she followed her But she insists she has no plans of
instincts because she discovered that becoming a full-time lawyer. ”I am ”I’m not saying that all medical students
”legal issues tended to crop up in doing clinical work. I’m also teaching should also study law but medicine has
all aspects of medicine, especially in and conducting research - this is the become more and more challenging,
obstetrics and gynaecology.” path for me.” with lots of legal issues involved.”