2022-09-30

Our Students, Our Spirits: Andy Lai Chung Yin

Andy Lai Chung Yin:  The internship of the GX Foundation brought me a brand-new experience, which provides new inspiration for myself.

Andy Lai Chung Yin, a Year 3 medical student of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined The Foundation as a student intern in 2021 and returned to participate in the Hong Kong Community Outreach Programme that year and again in 2022. He provided assistance in organsing the Community Outreach Programme including drafting and designing promotion materials, sourcing and purchasing emergency kits. “The internship of the GX Foundation brought me a brand-new experience, which provides new inspiration for myself.”

During his internship, Andy endured different challenges, such as the turning complex knowledge into simple information pack for the public and sourcing suitable materials to meet the requirements and the needs of partner organisation under tight timeline. The internship provided him with a lot of opportunities to communicate and work with talents in different professional fields. He realised that the medical service provided by frontline medical professional and the back-end support team are equally important and indispensable.

"Learning to deal with different issues has given me invaluable experience. I will pay more attention to the details of activities and the communicating skills with different stakeholders in the future."

On the recent outreach visit, Andy visited an elderly couple. The old man, who was recovering from his ankle injury, is responsible for taking care his wife with dementia. In order to save money for covering the medical expenses of the old lady, they have to live frugally. They could not afford to fix the air-conditioner or buy a walking stick which made Andy feel very sad. “Once the old man saw the walking stick we brought him, his heartfelt appreciation was unforgettable for me. I deeply realised the greatest significance of this outreach service."

This visit triggered Andy to reflect on the problems of medical system in Hong Kong. He doubted if the treatment provided by public hospitals was really worse than that at the private hospital. Even if it was true, how could the medical professional give up on helping the needy due to their financial constraints?

Andy does not have answers for those questions but he will strive to be a specialist doctor to serve patients and the public in Hong Kong.  Apart from his daily work, he wishes to participate in different types of community or medical services, including local and overseas work, such as providing community clinics or participating in humanitarian assistance work. "Serving the local community is my major duty while I will explore possibilities to help people in need outside Hong Kong.”