News

PolyU Signs Memorandum of Understanding with HKU-SZ Hospital

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZ Hospital) on 31 May 2019 at the HKU-SZ Hospital. The purpose of this MoU is to facilitate in-depth integration in the areas of rehabilitation profession development and training within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), as well as to further deepen cooperation between RS and HKU-SZ Hospital. Both parties undertake to promote and develop collaborations on mainly five areas including: (1) Exchange of professional knowledge and training (2) Mutual support of rehabilitation service provision (3) Exchange of students (4) Provision of training by academic staff (5) Collaboration in clinical research projects. Witnessed by over 100 RS colleagues and medical professions of HKU-SZ Hospital, the MoU was signed by Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Professor and Head of RS) and Prof. Lo Chung-Mau (Hospital Chief Executive of HKU-SZ Hospital). It is believed that the MoU will strengthen the partnership of both parties in terms of teaching and clinical practice, as well as the development of rehabilitation services.

PolyU Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Wisconsin–Madison on 22 May 2019 at PolyU. The purpose of this MoU is to develop academic and educational collaborations on the basis of equality and reciprocity and to promote relations and mutual understanding between the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of PolyU and the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology & Special Education in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

5th Elite Alumni Seminar

The 5th Elite Alumni Seminar was successfully held on 22th May 2019. Over 100 guests including government officials, senior management from PolyU, staff, alumni, students and friends gathered at the Regal Kowloon Hotel to join the Seminar. We were so pleased to have Ir Prof. Ben Young (Vice President (Student Affairs) of PolyU) delivering his welcome speech, Dr Choi Yuk Lin (Under Secretary for Education of Education Bureau, HKSAR) and Mr Wong Kwok Hing (Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services Department, HKSAR) as our guest speakers. Dr Choi Yuk-lin is a parent of a graduate from Physiotherapy Programme. She is a veteran education practitioner, having worked in the education field for over 30 years. She shared the story of her son’s study at PolyU and being a physiotherapist after graduated. Mr Wong Kwok Hing graduated from the Occupational Therapy (OT) programme and is now Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services Department, HKSAR. He shared the works doing by Correctional Services Department (CSD) in order to create rehabilitation opportunities for persons in custody and promoting law-abiding and inclusive values through community education. At the end of the 5th Elite Alumni Seminar, Prof. Hector Tsang delivered vote of thanks. Prof. Tsang expressed his warmest appreciation to Dr Choi and Mr Wong for the sharing, and looked forward to the next Elite Alumni Seminar in the coming future.  Please click here for more photos.

Congratulations to Dr Arnold Wong for winning “SOSORT 2019 Paper Award”

Dr Arnold Wong, Assistant Professor (Physiotherapy) of Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) received the SOSORT 2019 Paper Award in 14th International SOSORT Meeting 2019. The Award was presented to Dr Arnold Wong and his team that included researchers from six institutions in three different countries for the research paper entitled "Are lung functions related to spinal deformities in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis? A systematic review and meta-analysis”. Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) is a non-profit organization. The general aims of the SOSORT are to foster the best conservative management, early detection, prevention, care, education and information of scoliosis and other spinal deformities, and to encourage multidisciplinary teamwork, including scientists, medical and healthcare professionals, patients and their families. The SOSORT Paper Award is a continuing the tradition started at the 2008 meeting in Athens, the SOSORT Paper Award is presented to the two best eligible research papers presented during the Annual Meeting. 

Congratulations to two RS graduates, Dr Herman Lau and Mr Elton Ng, for receiving “Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award 2019”

The Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) is proud to announce that two RS graduates, Dr Herman Lau and Mr Elton Ng, have been selected as the recipients of Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award 2019. Jointly organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Federation of PolyU Alumni Associations, the biennial Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award aims at honouring outstanding graduates of PolyU and its forerunning institutions for their remarkable professional achievements and contributions to the community and their alma mater. The 12th award presentation ceremony was successfully held on 30 April 2019. Out of the total of nine alumni receipts, two are RS graduates. One of the recipients is Dr Herman Lau Mun-cheung, who is RS graduate in Physiotherapy. Dr Lau possesses vast healthcare management experience and is currently the Chief Executive of three hospitals in the New Territories East Cluster (NTEC) of the Hospital Authority, namely Bradbury Hospice, Cheshire Home, Shatin and Shatin Hospital. Being the first physiotherapist in Hong Kong appointed as a Hospital Chief Executive, Dr Lau has been a key driver for volunteer service in hospitals, with his team of volunteers providing about 10,000 service hours monthly at the cluster. He was awarded the HKSAR Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service in 2009. Dr Lau has offered valuable advice and teaching support for PolyU’s MSc in Manipulative Physiotherapy Programme, being an Adjunct Associate Professor and Professor of Practice. He is currently a member of the Departmental Advisory Committee of Rehabilitation Sciences of PolyU and President of the Rehabilitation Sciences Alumni Association. Another recipient, Mr Elton Ng, is also RS graduate in Physiotherapy. Mr Ng now is a private physiotherapist, elite cross-country trail athlete and mountaineer. Physiotherapist Ng not only has immense talents and stamina, he also has a deep concern for others. As an elite cross-country trail athlete, he has represented Hong Kong in various competitions and won prizes. In 2016, he made a record by becoming the second Hong Konger to scale successfully Mt. Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world. Having conquered Mount Everest in 2017, he became the second Hong Kong mountaineer who had completed eight expeditions covering the eight highest mountains among seven continents in the world. He was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (Professionals category) by the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong in 2018, in recognition of his devotion to volunteer services and charitable causes. For more details, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/aado/aa/en/outstanding_alumni/outstanding_alumni.htm.

MOT and MPT High Table Dinner

The Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been providing entry level Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) and Master in Physiotherapy (MPT) programmes since 2011. The first ever High Table Dinner aiming to celebrate the graduation of 2017 cohort graduates and to welcome freshman of MOT and MPT students was successfully held on 29 March 2019. Over 160 honourable guests including government officials, representatives of NGO sector, academic staff, graduates and students gathered at the Regal Kowloon Hotel to join the High Table Dinner. When delivering the opening speech, Prof. Philip Chan (Interim President, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU) expressed his thankfulness towards the Social Welfare Department of HKSAR in funding our MOT and MPT programmes which provide an extra source of graduates to man rehabilitation services in the community. The speeches delivered by Mr Lam Ka Tai (Deputy Director (Services) of Social Welfare Department, HKSAR) and Mr David Leung (Commissioner for Rehabilitation of Labour and Welfare Bureau, HKSAR) both highlighted the importance of training professional occupational therapists and physiotherapists to address the problem of manpower shortage especially in the NGO sector. We were delighted to have Mr Fong Cheung Fat (retired CEO of SAHK) for delivering an impressive sharing, in which he shared his experience in the welfare sector and gave tips to our students and graduates on their career pathways. After the sharing by our MOT and MPT graduates, Mr Hugo Leung (MOT 2012 Cohort) and Mr Ivan Au (MPT 2017 Cohort), there was an award presentation by Ms Stella Cheng (Chairman of Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association) and Prof. Marco Pang (President of Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association) to graduates with outstanding academic performance. It was then followed by the graduation speech delivered by class representatives – Ms Sudaki Law (MOT) and Mr Will Wong (MPT). The dinner came to a climax when Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Professor and Head of RS; Director of PolyU Technology and Consultancy Company Limited) sang songs with Ms Chloe Mo (Clinical Associate of RS) and the graduates. When delivering the closing remarks, Prof. Hector Tsang expressed his warmest congratulations on the achievements of the graduates and also welcomed freshman to join the big family of RS. Please click here for more photos.

RS Year 4 students attended free paper presentation in the 11th Annual Symposium of Hong Kong Society for Hand Therapy

The 11th Annual Symposium of Hong Kong Society for Hand Therapy (HKSHT) was successfully held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 29 March 2019. With the theme of “Clinical Pearls and Innovation in Hand Therapy”, various local and overseas experts on scientific or clinical fields shared their innovative clinical practice and research results during the Symposium. Two RS Year 4 Occupational Therapy student representatives of final year project groups, Ms Rita Leung and Ms Jenna Ng, presented the results of their research projects in the free paper session. The presentation received excellent appraisals from the invited guest speakers whom are hand therapists from Australia and UK. Ms Mary Chu, a retired Occupational Therapist as well as student of Doctor of Health Science, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at PolyU, also presented her thesis in the same session.

Ms ZHANG Haidi, Chairperson, China Disabled Persons’ Federation visited Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS), PolyU

Ms ZHANG Haidi, Chairperson, China Disabled Persons’ Federation visited RS, PolyU on 28 March 2019. During the meeting, they discussed about the talent nurturing and rehabilitation development. Ms ZHANG and her fellows also visited teaching laboratories and interacted with RS’s students. The details of the visits was published in China Disabled Persons’ Federation’s website (Chinese only)

Consultancy Services for Review of Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan Won Two Awards

The consultancy project of "Consultancy Services for Review of Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan" (RPP) commissioned by the Labour and Welfare Bureau won two awards, namely, Most Valued Project Award (awarding the consultancy project with the highest contract value for a local client for the financial year) and Multi-departmental Participation Award (awarding the multi-departmental consultancy project with the highest contract value for the financial year).

Congratulations to Dr Alex Wong, RS graduate, for winning "2019 ACRM Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award"

The Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) is very pleased to share a wonderful news that Dr Alex Wing-Kai Wong, BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy alumnus and RS PhD graduate, has been selected as a recipient of the 2019 Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) - the largest interdisciplinary rehabilitation association in US. Dr. Wong will present the Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award Lecture in November during the ACRM 2019 Annual Conference in Chicago. The ACRM Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award was established in honor of Deborah L. Wilkerson, former ACRM president and fellow, for individuals whose careers reflect an energetic promotion of the spirit of interdisciplinary rehabilitation. Each year the ACRM will select one early career scientist to receive this award. With the significant research contribution he has made during his early career work, Dr Wong has been nominated by leaders in rehabilitation medicine and selected as the recipient of 2019 award. Dr Wong is now an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr Wong's research focuses on using mobile technologies, neurobehavioral and patient-reported assessments to characterize cognitive, mood, and daily function changes over the course of neuro-recovery, and developing new interventions designed to optimize independence and community participation among people with neurological disorders. For further information about the ACRM Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award, please visit: https://acrm.org/about/awards/deborah-wilkerson-award/. For further information about Dr Wong, please visit: https://www.ot.wustl.edu/about/our-people/alex-wong-114