News

MoU Signing Ceremony between RS of PolyU and SoD of HKAPA

MoU Signing Ceremony between RS of PolyU and SoD of HKAPA A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Signing Ceremony was held between RS of PolyU and the School of Dance of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (SoD of HKAPA) on 15 October 2021, signifying a closer and more concrete collaborative relationship between RS and SoD. In his speech for the event, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) said the main purpose of the MoU was to facilitate further discussions between the two parties so as to explore collaborative opportunities on Dance Science, Dance Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention. He went on to explain that with the signing of the MoU, RS and SoD would: 1) explore the development of educational and academic exchange activities and cooperative activities for their students, faculty members and staff respectively; 2) seek to share resources with each other, including their qualified specialists and facilities, to support the collaborative activities; 3) explore the possibilities of research collaboration in the areas of Dance Science, Dance Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention.

PolyU Undergraduate Info Day 2021

PolyU Undergraduate Info Day 2021 PolyU Undergraduate Info Day 2021 was held successfully on 9 October 2021. To support the great event, the OT and PT teams of RS organised a series of interesting activities, which attracted hundreds of secondary school students to join, including those passionate students from top schools such as Diocesan Boys’ School, King’s College and Belilios Public School. The separate OT and PT programme talks in the morning (both physical and online modes) and in the afternoon (online mode only) were each attended by around 300 students online, with additionally around 100 attendees and 140 attendees joining the physical OT and PT morning sessions respectively. Our OT and PT teams also arranged guided visits to their respective teaching laboratories in GH wing. Besides, the OT team organised two live consultation sessions and two sharing talks online, especially for the participating students to ask questions and enjoy the sharing of learning experiences by our existing students.

RS year-3 PT student won the PolyU preliminary of a national essay competition

RS year-3 PT student won the PolyU preliminary of a national essay competition Chan Wing Lam, a year-3 student from the BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy programme, is one of the two winners in the PolyU preliminary of a national essay competition titled “笹川杯品書知日本” 2021徵文大獎賽. The prize ceremony was held on 23 September 2021. Chan Wing Lam and the other winner will represent PolyU in the main competition on the national level and compete for a chance of joining an 8-day cultural exchange tour to Japan. The essay competition aims to arouse university students’ interest in understanding Japanese society, economy and culture. Participants are required to read and then write a reflection on a Japan-themed book.

RS year-one students have won a significant portion of PolyU’s entry scholarships

RS year-one students have won a significant portion of PolyU’s entry scholarships Since its inception, RS has been admitting elite students from Hong Kong and elsewhere into its programmes. We are proud to announce that RS admittees in this academic year perform extremely well in winning over a significant portion of the JUPAS and non-JUPAS entry scholarships offered by the University, an achievement as impressive as that of our past admittees in preceding academic years. PolyU offers altogether 331 Entry Scholarships for Outstanding Academic Achievements to JUPAS admittees this year. Out of these 331 scholarships, 124 go to PT freshmen and 61 go to OT freshmen admitted through JUPAS. These two figures make up a total of 185, or 55.9% of all scholarships of the same category offered to all academic departments of PolyU. As to the Entry Scholarship for Outstanding IB Results offered to local non-JUPAS admittees, RS takes up 12 of them, with 7 and 5 awardees from the PT and OT disciplines respectively. The total figure of 12 constitutes 42.9% of all scholarships of the same category offered by the University. Finally, among the local non-JUPAS admittees being awarded the Entry Scholarship for Outstanding GCEAL/IAL Results, 2 of them are from PT and 3 from OT. These figures make up a total of 5, or 55.6% of all scholarships of this type.

RS Inauguration Ceremony 2021/22

RS Inauguration Ceremony 2021/22 The Inauguration Ceremony 2021/22 of RS was held on 25 August 2021 to welcome the approach of a new academic year with a new cohort of physiotherapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students. Similar to our practice last year, the inauguration ceremony this year had to be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still around 320 participants, including guests, RS staff and students, joined the event to share the excitement in kicking off a new academic year. The ceremony began with the opening address by Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS). He said although last year had not been easy for any of us due to the continuous spread of Covid-19 and its new variants, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to learn from tough times, and had indeed achieved notable success and breakthroughs in the aspects of teaching and learning, research and creation of knowledge, and community services. He was happy that we were ranked the top two positions among all academic departments in PolyU in terms of our performance on teaching and learning, as obviously reflected by the continually outstanding admission DSE scores of our PT and OT students as well as the numerous scholarships and awards they had won during their study at RS. Prof. Tsang also gave words of encouragement to the freshmen and reminded them to make the most of their learning opportunities in the coming four years, especially opportunities of local and overseas placements and exchanges.   Prof. Tsang’s encouraging opening address was followed by an informative speech by our officiating guest Dr Cissy Choi (Head, Primary Healthcare Office, Food and Health Bureau, The Government of the HKSAR). Dr Choi mentioned the recent developments of primary healthcare services in Hong Kong and affirmed the important roles played by physiotherapists and occupational therapists in primary healthcare.   Afterwards, there was the announcement and presentation of a series of awards and scholarships to our distinguished students, as well as the Outstanding Teaching Award 2020/21 to our colleague Mr Alexander Woo (Senior Clinical Associate) by our guest Miss Cally Kwong (Donor of Cally Kwong Mei Wan Psychosocial Health Endowed Professorship). After taking group photos, Prof. Hector Tsang drew the ceremony to a close with a few final remarks and a vote of thanks to the guests and all participants.

Elite Occupational Therapist Taster Programme (EOTTP) 2021

Elite Occupational Therapist Taster Programme (EOTTP) 2021 Occupational Therapy Student Ambassador (OTSA) was established in 2014, and this year marks its 7th anniversary. OTSA aims to promote OT profession to the general public through various activities. With secondary school students being one of the major promotional targets, RS of PolyU joined hands with OTSA again in organising the Elite Occupational Therapist Taster Programme (EOTTP) for students’ early exposure to the OT profession.   The 4th EOTTP was successfully held at PolyU on 10 August 2021 and attended by nearly 100 passionate participants from around 50 elite secondary schools in Hong Kong. It was our honour to have invited Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) to give an inspiring opening speech, which marked the start of the event. In order to provide the participants with a holistic perspective of the roles of occupational therapists, we prepared an array of activities, including a theory-learning class, a splinting workshop, and visits to teaching laboratories and the Rehabilitation Clinic. Thanks to the generous support from RS faculties, the participants were able to have a comprehensive understanding of the OT profession including OT theories and practices. After the opening ceremony, Mr Tony Wong (Clinical Associate) taught the theory-learning class in which he lectured on OT theories, concepts and models. In the group study session that followed, participants tried to conduct simple case analyses by applying their newly learnt theories and models, so as to experience briefly the process of assessing patients. The splinting workshop was conducted by Ms Josephine Wong (Senior Clinical Associate), Ms Bonnie Jim (Clinical Associate), Mr Kin-Chung Tang (Clinical Associate) and Mr Tony Wong. The four clinical associates demonstrated to the participants the steps of making hand splints, and instructed them to make a protective mallet finger splint by themselves. During the teaching lab tour, participants had a chance to visit the state-of-the-art teaching facilities, thereby deepening their understanding of various types of OT specialties. The visit to the Rehabilitation Clinic was led by Mr Johnny Lam (Clinical Associate), in which participants had a glance at the environment where occupational therapists worked and their different treatment media. Through this successful one-day programme, it is anticipated that the secondary school students could gain a better insight into the OT expertise and our OT undergraduate programme. Meanwhile, the service period of the 7th OTSA has come to an end. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us over the past year. Please stay tuned for the coming OTSA events!

PolyU Physiotherapy Summer Programme 2021

PolyU Physiotherapy Summer Programme 2021 The PolyU Physiotherapy Summer Programme 2021 was held successfully on 26 July 2021 and attended by over 100 secondary four and five students from local elite secondary schools. The programme aims to provide secondary school students with an authentic experience of being a physiotherapy (PT) student at PolyU. To kick off the PT Summer Programme 2021, Prof. Shamay Ng (Associate Head of RS) and Dr Shirley Ngai (Programme Leader of the BSc [Hons] in PT programme) welcomed the participants and introduced the programme. After an icebreaking game led by our current students, the participants started to go through the informative and intriguing experience of being a PT student and participated in different activities in small groups. The activities include: “Human Anatomy: Our Brain, Muscles and Skeletons” by Dr Stanley Winser (Assistant Professor [PT]) and Dr Sonata Yau (Associate Professor [PT]) “Cardiorespiratory System & Simulation Lab Demonstration” by Dr Alex Cheung (Research Assistant Professor [PT]) “Practical: Measurement of Upper Limbs Joint ROMs” by Dr Freddy Lam (Assistant Professor [PT]) “Rehab Clinic Tour: Knowing How We Treat Patients” by Mr Eugene Kwok (Clinical Associate [PT]) At the end of the programme, Mr Stanley Wu, Clinical Associate (PT) and person-in-charge of the programme, provided various types of useful information on admission requirements, interview skills and career prospects in the Q&A session. The participants enjoyed their one-day experience of studying PT. They reflected that they knew more about what and how they would learn in the PT programme now and that the Summer Programme had enhanced their interest in studying PT at PolyU, as they were impressed by everything around them that day, including nice helpers, kind professors and a great university.

Year-4 PT student Michael Ng won and broke Hong Kong swimming record at Hong Kong Short Course Time Trial I

Year-4 PT student Michael Ng won and broke Hong Kong swimming record at Hong Kong Short Course Time Trial I Ng Michael Yu Hin, a year-4 PT student, won and broke a Hong Kong record set by himself in the men’s 200m breaststroke event at the Hong Kong Short Course Time Trial I, held at Hong Kong Sports Institute on 11 July 2021. Michael’s new Hong Kong record now stands at two minutes and 09.14 seconds. We are proud of Michael’s achievement. His dedication to pursue his passion for physiotherapy and swimming also sets a good example for his fellow students. He would like to share below his experience of striking a balance between being a university student and a swimmer who competes internationally for Hong Kong:   “‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’ This has been my motto since I entered university. When people around me knew I was going to study physiotherapy at PolyU, they started to ask whether I was about to quit swimming. But here I am, breaking my personal best again. Now, when people ask me how I manage my time and the pressure from the two aspects, I will tell them, ‘Be the best you could every day and think less, do more.’ It is always hard to accomplish something no one has done before since there will be a lot of doubts coming along. You must really trust yourself and believe the hard work you are doing every day will bring success. Constantly grinding is exhausting but is the fundamental of achieving something you badly desire. So, just hold on to your belief with confidence and perseverance, and you will reach your target soon!” Michael is currently receiving practical training at a private clinic in Central before finishing his study at PolyU. We hope he will continue to excel in swimming and his career as a physiotherapist.

Six RS faculty members succeed in obtaining allocations from RGC GRF 2021/22

Six RS faculty members succeed in obtaining allocations from RGC GRF 2021/22 Over the years, academics and researchers at RS have spared no effort in achieving excellence in research in related disciplines. To support their impactful and translational research, they have made strenuous efforts to secure internal funding at the department, faculty and university levels as well as acquire external funding support such as that from the RGC General Research Fund (GRF), the RGC Early Career Scheme (ECS), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). This year RS has done very well in the highly competitive RGC GRF 2021/22 exercise. Out of the sixteen applications we submitted, six are funded, reflecting a success rate of 37.5%. This is the highest success rate among all of the five schools/departments in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. Congratulations to the six faculty members who have made a successful GRF application this year (please refer to the table below for more details). We are also grateful to all the colleagues who have rendered assistance in the process. Let us keep up the good work and achieve even better results next year. Principal Investigator Funded Research Project Prof. Marco PANG Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to study the changes in brain activity during dual-task walking and the effects of structured cognitive-motor exercise in individuals with stroke Prof. Hector TSANG Unpacking the “mind” and “body” pathways of the antidepressant effect of qigong in older adults with chronic diseases Dr Benson LAU Light for major depression: Potential effect of photobiomodulation on neurogenesis and depression-like behavior by low-energy laser irradiation Dr Sai Kam HUI Neuroarchitectural recovery model of post-stroke patients Dr Thomson WONG The effects of attentional focus instructions on real-time conscious movement processing while walking in a challenging environment for older adults at risk of falling in Hong Kong: Implications for rehabilitation Dr Sunny CHAN Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of mindfulness-based intervention and Tai Chi Chuan on sleep disturbance in older people

Four RS scholars have been ranked among top 2% of scientists in the world

Four RS scholars have been ranked among top 2% of scientists in the world We are excited to share the great news that five RS scholars (listed below) have been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists. They were named, along with other 158 PolyU scholars, in the “Updated science-wide author databases of standardised citation indicators”, compiled by Stanford University. To group and rank top scientists across the world, the Stanford research team used an array of standardised citation indicators including information on citations, an individual’s scientific research output, co-authorship and a composite indicator for career-long citation impact up to the end of 2019. Congratulations to these four scholars whose determined efforts to conduct high-impact research have earned them global recognition they deserve!  Name of Scholars Subject Field Professor Gabriel Ng Rehabilitation Professor Marco Pang Rehabilitation Professor Hector Tsang Psychiatry Professor Benjamin Yee Neurology and neurosurgery