News

Warmest support to RS from 2013 MOT (China) graduates during the pandemic

The 2013 graduates of Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) programme (China) have always been concerned about the pandemic situation in Hong Kong and the health condition of their teachers at RS. When noticing that the 5th wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong became out of control day by day, Eden Liu and Betty Luo, delegates of 2013 MOT (China) graduates, offered anti-pandemic materials (scented sachets) to RS teachers and supporting staff to help improve their work environment and protect them from COVID-19. Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) met 2013 MOT (China) graduates online on 29 March to receive the anti-pandemic materials officially. Eden and Betty firstly presented the background information of the scented sachets, which contain Chinese traditional medicine for improving immunity and cleaning the air. They showed the gifts to Prof. Tsang via Zoom first and arranged to deliver them to RS after the online gathering. Prof. Tsang expressed gratitude to 2013 MOT (China) graduates on behalf of RS teachers and supporting staff. He said he was super excited and even surprised at first when receiving the news from Eden about the anti-pandemic materials as he did not expect graduates would show their care and love to RS in this manner.   Then 10 selected graduates shared their OT-related work in mainland China. After that Prof. Tsang briefed the development of the department in the recent five years. All the participating graduates expressed their appreciation to the teachers who had taught them and given them good guidance. Prof. Tsang said he was very happy to see all the graduates excel in their career in different areas, for example, as heads of departments, researchers, teachers at universities, leaders in cross-disciplinary environment, etc. He encouraged them and wished them good luck in their future career development. He finally suggested to have regular gatherings with them to enhance mutual understanding.     The way in which graduates continue to show their care and love to their teachers is moving.

Two RS students share their frontline experience in the fight against COVID-19

Jillian Zhou (year-2 student of Master in Physiotherapy programme) and Audrey Chow (year-3 student of BSc [Hons] in Occupational Therapy programme) responded to the University’s call earlier to participate in frontline anti-epidemic work during the 5th wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. They are helping at a mobile specimen collection station to provide testing service for the public. Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) met with them on 23 March. He praised their spirit of service to the community despite the hardships and risks involved, and hoped other students would take them as role models and contribute to society through participating in the fight against the epidemic. Jillian shared that she and Audrey were both assigned to work at MacPherson Playground in Mong Kok. The testing capacity at this station is the highest in Hong Kong. During the peak period, the station needed to provide testing service to 4,000 people every day, and each sampler needed to collect an average of 50 specimens each hour. She had to master sampling techniques while at the same time catching up with the daily quota. She is happy to have the chance to apply the healthcare knowledge she has learned to her work. Although her work is not directly related to her study, the spirit behind is the same: to help others and to keep them healthy, especially when society is in a state of crisis. Audrey believes testing is very important in the fight against the epidemic since the identification of COVID-19 patients is critical to reducing the spread of the virus. Although at the beginning she worried about the risks of her work and the possibility of transmitting the virus to her family, she soon realised that the epidemic would subside only when people were willing to contribute to society. Therefore she no longer hesitated. She hopes to give back to society with her healthcare knowledge. She believes the intensive work and high-pressure environment can train her concentration skills, which will in turn benefit her future placements. She reflected that the need to handle emotions of the public, the long working hours (almost 12 hours per day) and the juggling of schoolwork with this job were physically exhausting, posing a great challenge to her. Fortunately, she can share her worries with Jillian and other colleagues and they support each other. We are glad that the two students demonstrate commitment to society. We hope they will keep their sense of mission and make an impact on those around them.

RS students join forces to help at hostels for persons with disabilities and the elderly in the pandemic

Fifty year-4 students of our undergraduate PT and OT programmes responded to the call from The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) and RS, and take part in a scheme which enlists postsecondary students from healthcare-related disciplines to help with the frontline work at hostels for persons with disabilities and for the elderly, so as to alleviate the manpower shortage at these hostels. Twenty RS faculty members will also serve as online mentors to provide support for students at the back.  Under the 5th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, there is an exponential surge of infections among hostel residents, which has exacerbated the manpower shortage in hostels for persons with disabilities and for the elderly. According to HKCSS, due to the current labour shortage, a majority of the residents have been “immobilised” in beds for a long period of time, which will indeed cause detrimental effects on their health.  With the help from donors, HKCSS has launched a scheme called “健康專業專上學生院舍工作計劃” in early March this year to tackle the situation. At RS, 50 year-4 students of our undergraduate PT and OT programmes have joined the scheme to show their readiness to provide healthcare services to the elderly and persons with disabilities. They will work at these hostels from mid-March to June 2022. Given their rehabilitation expertise, we believe they can contribute a lot to those in need in the aforesaid premises at the moment, especially in the provision of professional rehabilitation services to enhance the mobility of those “immobilised” hostel residents and to avoid complications caused by prolonged inactivity.   Students' Sharing Year-4 student of BSc (Hons) in OT programme Valerie Pun Toby Wong Year-4 student of BSc (Hons) in PT programme Kelly Yeung Flora Ko Faye Chan Jeffrey Man Beetle Tsang Mandy Lee Ivy Ho Sunny Wong

Congratulations to RS alumni Mr Wong Kwok-hing on his promotion to Commissioner of Correctional Services!

Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services and RS alumni, will take up the post of Commissioner of Correctional Services on 24 March 2022. Mr Wong joined the Correctional Services Department (CSD) as Officer in August 1989 and was promoted to Senior Superintendent of Correctional Services in August 2014 and to Assistant Commissioner of Correctional Services in August 2017 before being appointed as Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services since November 2018. Mr Wong graduated from the occupational therapy (OT) programme at RS. At our 5th Elite Alumni Seminar in 2019, he shared with the audience his experience of applying OT knowledge to his work at CSD. He is a role model to RS students in that he has created rehabilitation opportunities for persons in custody and promoted law-abiding and inclusive values through community education. Mr Wong possesses excellent management and leadership skills. We are proud of his success and outstanding achievements, and wish him the best for his career. 

Two RS colleagues have won faculty awards

Two RS faculty members have recently received faculty awards in recognition of their achievement in research and teaching. Dr Georg Kranz (Assistant Professor) has been given the Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research and Scholarly Activities 2021 (category: Outstanding Young Researcher), while Mr Alexander Woo (Senior Clinical Associate) has won the Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching 2021. Congratulations to Dr Kranz and Mr Woo on their distinguished achievement!

Experiences and feelings shared by recipients of the Bronze Award of The 7th China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

Dino Lee Leung Pong, Matthew Lo Cheuk Long, Afifah Har Wing Yiu and Heyson Ngai Chu Hei (MOT 2019 graduates) It is hard to put our feelings into words. Above all, we are very glad to receive this award from Mr Alfred Sit, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, at the Hong Kong Science Park. We are deeply honoured by this recognition of our effort. It began with a student project for the subject “Environmental Issues in OT Practice” of our MOT programme. We designed and created a prototype of an assistive device—Cupensator, which is a drinking aid to help sufferers of Parkinson’s disease better handle a drinking cup by reducing unwanted oscillations caused by tremors. This assistive device could not have been accomplished without the guidance and support from many nice people around us. First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Kenneth Fong, our project supervisor, for his patient guidance throughout our study. We would also like to thank Mr Eddie Hai for his kind guidance and advice on this project. The two mentors are the role models to guide us all along in our early stage of professional development as an emerging occupational therapist. Besides, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office at PolyU for their nomination and sponsorship. Finally, we are grateful to each other for giving mutual support and care throughout this project. We have shared our joys and sorrows along the way. Last but not least, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our parents and significant others for their endless support and love, and to God for showing us the way all along.

Inauguration ceremony of MPT and MOT programmes (academic year 2021/22)

RS held the first inauguration ceremony for its Master in Physiotherapy (MPT) and Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) programmes on 6 January 2022. Thanks to the support from the Social Welfare Department (SWD), relevant NGOs, RS colleagues and students, the ceremony was a great success. We are honoured to have invited Prof. Ben Young, Vice President (Student and International Affairs) of PolyU, to deliver a welcome address at the ceremony. Prof. Young shared in his speech the origin and recent development of the two master’s programmes, including an increase in the student intake for each programme, which is now 48, and the offering of the programmes on an annual basis from 2021 up to 2023. Prof. Young said the university will continue to negotiate with SWD, in an effort to regularise the two programmes so as to meet our society’s ever growing demand. Mr Kok Che-leung, Deputy Director of Social Welfare (Services), SWD, also delivered a speech, introducing SWD’s Training Sponsorship Scheme and relevant new developments. After that, two graduates of the programmes and an NGO representative shared their experiences separately. Finally, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) delivered closing remarks at the end of the ceremony, summarising the department’s achievements in the areas of teaching, research and knowledge creation, and community service last year, as well as encouraging the freshmen. The inauguration ceremony came to a successful conclusion.  

The 12th Pan-Pacific Conference on Rehabilitation

RS hosted the 12th Pan-Pacific Conference on Rehabilitation (12th PPCR) on 27-28 November 2021, with the theme of “Innovations and Technological Developments in Rehabilitation”. Due to the continuous spread of the pandemic and the social distancing measures, the PPCR had to be held online this time. Still there were encouraging responses and the active participation of people from the related sectors across different regions, including experts, scholars, clinicians, healthcare administrators and students in Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas countries.  We are delighted to have over 300 people registering for the conference, one third of which are from overseas institutions. Out of the 129 abstract submissions we accepted, 51 were selected for platform presentation, with the rest of the papers presented in poster format. A post-conference workshop was also conducted on 3 December 2021 by Prof. Susan Whitney, on the topic of the “Advances in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo”. The workshop attracted more than 70 people to register.     The opening ceremony, with Mr Kok Che-leung (Deputy Director of Social Welfare [Services], Social Welfare Department), Prof. Christopher Chao (Vice President [Research and Innovation], PolyU) and Prof. David Shum (Dean, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, PolyU) as the officiating guests, marked the kick-off of the event. We are honoured to have invited Prof. Christopher Chao to deliver a welcome address and Mr Kok Che-leung to give a speech at the ceremony.  As an essential part of the conference programme, the Organising Committee had invited six distinguished speakers from prestigious universities to deliver keynote lectures on wide-ranging topics in rehabilitation: Prof. Douglas Gross and Prof. Jeffrey Hausdorff shared about the application of machine learning and low-cost technologies to rehabilitation; Prof. Susan Whitney and Prof. William Miller updated us on the advances in the use of technology in clinical interventions and rehabilitation care provision; Prof. Alyssa Wise lectured on the application of advances in data technologies to rehabilitation education; and Prof. Masud Husain talked about the neurology of apathy and motivation. In addition to the aforementioned keynote lectures, workshop and platform presentations conducted online, around 100 local participants even had a chance to visit RS’s advanced equipment and laboratories on the spot in an Engagement Hub session on 27 November.  The PPCR was inaugurated in Guangzhou in 1998 and has since become an iconic biannual event of our department. The 12th PPCR aims to foster multi-disciplinary collaborations among rehabilitation professionals, academics, students and healthcare administrators in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. We are gratified by the great support we received from different parties for this big event, and look forward to seeing you all again in the next PPCR.

RS high-flyer students made the acquaintance of elite alumni at High Table Dinner

RS high-flyer students made the acquaintance of elite alumni at High Table Dinner A High Table Dinner of the High-Flyer Mentorship Programme was successfully held in the evening of 4 November 2021, with almost 100 participants joining the event. Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, Vice President (Education) of PolyU, and Prof. David Shum, Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of PolyU, graced our event as VIPs. After almost two years of pandemic and social distancing, this is the first so-called “big banquet” we organised. The participants, including around 40 mentors and staff and 60 high-flyer students, had a great time together as far as the evening went. The new mentors and mentees were excited to get to know each other, while the current mentors and mentees had a very enjoyable time catching up on each other after their absence from this kind of social gathering for a long time. We are honoured to have invited Prof. Kwok-yin Wong to deliver an opening address. He said that the aim and significance of our High-Flyer Mentorship Programme, launched in February 2019, were to provide a platform for the top year-1 students to meet with the elite alumni from the physiotherapy and occupational therapy sectors, so as to acquire practical knowledge outside the classroom and receive advice from the experienced mentors on their academic and career development. He believed the programme had matched the high-flyers to the most suitable mentors, and the high-flyers would grab the good opportunity to broaden their horizons and interpersonal network through interaction with their worldly-wise mentors. Highlights of the event also included the sharing by Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) in his capacity as a mentor and his mentee, as well as the presentation by three top students. At the end of the dinner, Prof. Tsang delivered his vote of thanks to the participants. He hoped the mentorship programme would allow experienced and accomplished physiotherapists and occupational therapists from various sectors of Hong Kong to share their experience and offer some guidance to our high-quality students, so as to help students develop their future career in the two professions.

Congratulations to Dr Billy So on winning the Bronze Award of the 13th Hong Kong Outstanding OSH Employee Award Scheme!

Congratulations to Dr Billy So on winning the Bronze Award of the 13th Hong Kong Outstanding OSH Employee Award Scheme! Dr Billy So (Assistant Professor of RS) has been honoured with the Bronze Award of the 13th Hong Kong Outstanding OSH Employee Award Scheme in recognition of his excellent work to promote occupational safety and health culture at different levels. At the Award Presentation Ceremony on 18 October 2021, Dr So received the award from Dr David Mong, Chairman and Group CEO of Shun Hing Group as well as Member of the Occupational Safety and Health Council. In the past years, Dr So has contributed to promoting occupational safety and health not only within PolyU but also in other organisations. At the university level, for example, he has developed the PolyU OSH Stretching Challenge Online Platform for PolyU staff members. At the community level, he has been conducting ergonomic risk assessments and health education talks for different organisations and schools, including Auxiliary Medical Service, Occupational Safety & Health Council, Hong Kong St. John Ambulance Association, Hong Kong Police College, etc. Dr So also has rich publications in the area of occupational health including conference presentations and journal publications. We are happy that Dr So’s outstanding achievements in making his own and other people’s workplaces safer and healthier have been well recognised.