Humanitarian Service Awardee 2024

Dr. KWONG Wing-yan (MBChB 2010) is the awardee in Humanitarian Service 2024 of the Distinguished Medical Alumni Award

“There are challenges and dangers in every mission. However, I believe that a true doctor must embrace a profound sense of mission and stay committed to helping those in need.”

Dr Wing-yan Kwong (MBChB 2010), an awardee of Humanitarian Service in CUHK Distinguished Medical Alumni Award 2024, has spent her life helping those in need. Since being a teenager, Wing-yan has been working with volunteering organisations in the community.

In her third year of studying at CUHK, she didn't hesitate to take a gap year to embark on her first overseas mission in Cameroon. She contracted malaria twice and would have lost her life if not for the aid rendered by the villagers that she lived with. Deeply touched by the care shown to her and the community she wanted to help; Dr Kwong became determined to use her time and talent to protect those in need.

Upon graduation in 2010, she joined the A&E department of a public hospital. With humanitarian cause in mind, she believed that being an emergency physician would allow her to contribute the most.  In 2015, in response to the call of the Hong Kong Red Cross, she supported voluntary medical service during the Nepal earthquake. In 2016, she was awarded the Hong Kong Humanity Award. In July 2023, she joined the Hong Kong Red Cross again for a month-long rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea, she provided emergency medical care to 600 displaced persons and brought them to the port of safety in Italy.

Dr Kwong's consistent and selfless contribution to the less fortunate sets her apart from most of us. It is rare to see a doctor putting her studies, training and career aside multiple times only to render volunteer services.