News

Appreciation Ceremony for Dr Tsui Chi Man for contributing complimentary Nano-coating Service for RS OT teaching laboratories

An appreciation ceremony was held on 29 June 2020 to acknowledge Dr Tsui Chi Man for contributing complimentary Nano-coating Service for Occupational Therapy (OT) teaching laboratories of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS). It was hounoured to have the presence of Professor David Shum (Dean, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences), Ms Belinda Chow (Director of the Alumni Affairs and Development Office ) and Mr Loo (Head of Health, Safety and Environment Office) to attend this meaningful event. When delivering the speech, Ms Chow expressed her thankfulness towards Dr Tsui, an alumnus of RS OT, for his contribution and generous offerings to PolyU. From Dr Tsui’s presentation about the Nano-coating technology, we could all feel his strong sense of belonging to PolyU and RS. On behalf of RS, Prof. Hector Tsang (Chair Professor and Head of RS) gave his heartfelt thanks to Dr Tsui. As the Head of RS as well as Dr Tsui’s PhD supervisor, Prof. Tsang said he was touched by Dr Tsui’s considerable efforts which help colleagues and students of RS get protected from the spread of coronavirus. While Dr Tsui has set up a good example of giving back to alma mater, he hopes that more RS graduates could also do well to emulate his way. Towards the end of the ceremony, all the guests even had a try on applying the Nano-coating service inside the room.

RS students awarded the Innovation and Technology Scholarship and HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship

RS is pleased to announce that there are two students, namely Alison Tse (PT year 3 student) and Erina Chow (OT year 2 student) won this highly competitive and prestigious scholarship - Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020. There are 25 awardees nominated by the university presidents and then selected by the Awardee Selection Committee with members from different sectors each year, who will receive HK$150,000 each to participate in a series of initiatives, including Overseas or Mainland Attachment Programme, Mentorship Programme, Local Internship Programme and Service Project Programme. Also, Angel Lam (OT Year 3 student) has been awarded the HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship 2019/20. This scholarship is set up to award students who have achieved good academic results (CGPA of 3.7 or above/ top 3% in class ranking / distinction (or equivalent)) as at the end of the first semester of 2019-20; and have strong commitment to Hong Kong. Three students have the following sharing: Alison Tse (PT Year 3 student) - Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020 It is such a privilege to be awarded the prestigious Innovative and Technology Scholarship 2020. Not only is it a ticket for me to explore more state-of-the-art knowledge from other countries and professionals, but it also reinforces my passion for technology and my field of study -- Physiotherapy. Nowadays, with the advent of technology, there are a wide scope of captivating treatment choices. Through this precious chance, it is hoped to be acquainted with more medical technologies that are conducive to patients with physical health problems. In the future, combining those insights into my Physiotherapy practice, I truly wish that I can contribute back to the community and facilitate the patients to live their life to the fullest. Lastly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the RS department and the teachers who have been providing enduring encouragement for me to pursue this golden opportunity and guidance throughout my study in the past 3 years. They have always inspired me to be an active and humble learner. The success would not have been possible without them. Thank you very much! Erina Chow (OT Year 2 student) - Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020 Chow Tsz Ching, Erina, is the first-ever Occupational Therapy student receiving the Innovation and Technology Scholarship. Having been a strong advocate for humanities subjects such as psychology throughout the past years, she had never expected to be inspired by technology before her first placement in a hospital. “How rehabilitation technology was able to give geriatric patients motivation, has completely changed my attitude towards the way occupational therapy interacts with innovation, and how technology can go hand in hand with humanities to improve one's well-being.” As one of the newly awarded scholars, Erina is very grateful for the opportunity and is excited to embark on her journey to gain experiences in prestigious colleges and research labs, and acquire knowledge about neuroscience, gerontechnology, and telerehabilitation. She believes these invaluable opportunities will allow her to bring the latest technological advancement to both occupational interventions and the healthcare system in Hong Kong, ultimately empowering patients both physically and mindfully. Holding a strong passion to fulfill her conviction that everyone should lead a purposeful and contented life, Erina aspires to promote accessibility of rehabilitation services to the public, and further advance occupational therapy practices in Hong Kong with an innovative mind, while keeping a human touch. Angel Lam (OT Year 3 student) - HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship 2019/20 I am grateful and honoured to be the recipient of the HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship 2019/20. I believe this is not my sole effort, but the combined effort of OT professors’ guidance and well-designed teaching, schoolmates’ generous help and inspirations, as well as the fruitful and diverse learning experiences offered by our curriculum. These all provided me a great learning platform to attain good academic results and equip me to be a more competent OT in the future. Hence, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the professors, students and staff who have helped me along my learning process, as well as my family, and to share this massive joy with them. Thanks to the HSBC scholarship, I can further expose myself to knowledge and research in various OT areas of expertise, for instance, through joining conferences and exhibitions on such topics as AI and assistive devices and technologies. Moreover, the scholarship will allow me to pursue some extra-curricular interests. This scholarship will motivate me to work hard in my final year at Poly U and clinical placements. Thank you once again HSBC for investing in my future and that of other students.

Dr Kenneth Fong's teaching team awarded the Faculty Team Award for Outstanding Performance/ Achievement in Teaching (2018/19)

RS is pleased to announce that our teaching team for subjects related to "Environmental Issues and Assistive Technology" has been awarded the Faculty Teaching Award for Outstanding Performance/Achievement in Teaching 2018/19, in recognition of the team’s outstanding performance and achievement in teaching. The team is also the recipient of the RS Outstanding Teaching Award 2018/2019. The team consists of the following members:  Dr Kenneth Fong, Associate Professor, RS (Team Leader) Mr Eddie Hai, Clinical Associate, RS Mr Philip Ng, Technical Officer, RS The team has incorporated innovative prototype making and interactive showcase, flipped classroom in contextual learning and blended learning in interactive virtual reality into the teaching of RS320 Environmental Issues in OT Practice, RS3200 Enabling Occupation: Environmental Issues and Assistive Technology, and RS5366 Environmental Issues in OT Practice. The subject-based projects supervised by the teaching team greatly enhanced the creativity of students, broadened their horizons and further inspired them with valuable experiences from showcases, presentation and overseas competition, influencing their current study as well as life-long learning. Such positive and intriguing experiences would benefit students on making significant contribution to the society at present and in the future. The impact of the project can be further demonstrated based on the positive feedback received from students, and many local and international awards gained for products designed. In particular, the students taking these teaching subjects have been inspired and invented many creative products that have won awards in many international competitions, such as gaining awards in Global Student Innovation Challenge (gSIC) at International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (i-CREATe) for six consecutive years. In the recent i-CREATe 2019, two teams of students won Gold and Bronze awards in the Design Category (details).

Visit of Occupational Therapists Board on 28 May 2020

Ms Mabel Chau (Chairman), Ms Angel Chan (Secretary) and Miss Jacqueline Law (Assistant Secretarty) of the Occupational Therapists Board visited RS on 28 May 2020. During the meeting with Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS)), Prof. Shamay Ng (Professor and Associate Head of RS) and Dr Kenneth Fong (Assoicate Professor and OT Porgramme Leader of RS), discussions have been made on the RS online teaching and practical class and clinical placement arrangement. Followed by a tour visit to the RS new research lab and OT Clinic (Tam Wing Fan Rehabilitation Centre (Occupational Therapy)), the Occupational Therapists Board members were able to gain a better understanding on the updated development of RS and thus enhance furture collaborations. 

Student Forum on 14 May 2020

The Department organized a student forum on 14 May 2020 to share the results of the student survey on participation of online teaching of RS subjects conducted by the University as well as some updates on the practical skill class and placement arrangement. Ten class representatives from undergraduate programmes and student associations were invited to exchange their views with Chair Professor and Head, Prof. Hector Tsang, as well as Associate Head, Prof. Shamay Ng and two program leaders - Dr Kenneth Fong (Programme Leader of BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy) and Dr Shirley Ngai (Programme Leader of BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy). Chaired by Prof. Tsang, the forum began with a release of survey results conducted by both the Department and the University about students' feedback on the online teaching of RS subjects. It was pleased to know that most of the students had a good overall impression of the online learning experiences. Some updates and issues on the practical skill class and placement arrangement were also discussed during the student forum.

PT student won the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship

Ms Ruby Kwok, a year two student of BSc (Hons) in PT programme is selected to receive the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Scholarship funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (the Trust). The Scholarships reward outstanding students, known as JC Scholars, for their intellect, character, leadership qualities and commitment to service. A Scholarship Secretariat has been set up to provide the Scholars with opportunities for learning, personal development and social service. It endeavours to help them become future community leaders. Ruby has the following sharing to receive this scholarship: “First of all, it is my great honour to receive this prestigious award. And I must thank my family and teachers for their unconditional love and care as well as their time and energy to nurture my intellectual, moral and spiritual growth. On top of that, I must also express my deepest gratitude towards the school for giving me countless opportunities to explore myself and the world, and work towards being an all-rounded individual. Without their guidance and selfless care, I would not be able to blossom so vigorously today. Besides, this award reminds me to equip myself with different skills so that I can grab every opportunity in the coming future. More importantly, instead of just considering what I can receive from this community, I always remind myself to actively contribute to the community, spreading my love to people around me especially the disadvantaged group. Lastly, as a future physiotherapist, I hope I can utilize my knowledge and skills to enhance people’s physical health.”

Prof. Hector Tsang, Head of RS, has been appointed as Executive Guest Editor of Current Neuropharmacology

Prof. Hector Tsang has been appointed as Executive Guest Editor of Current Neuropharmacology, which is an SCIE journal with impact factor of 4.568. The journal publishes reviews and thematic issues related to neuropharmacology and neuroscience, and it ranks the 59th of 267 in Neurosciences and the 33rd of 267 in Pharmacology & Pharmacy. Prof. Tsang will serve as Executive Guest Editor for three years, and Dr Georg Kranz (Research Assistant Professor of RS) will work with him as Co-Guest Editor. During each year, Prof. Tsang and Dr Kranz will propose and edit a series of thematic issues on the neuroscience of nonpharmacological interventions for mental health. Authors with PhD degree and an h-index over 10 can contribute to the thematic issues. This is an acknowledgement of Prof. Tsang’s and Dr Kranz’s expertise in and contribution to the fields of neuroscience and nonpharmacological interventions. This is also a great opportunity for our faculty members and research staff to publish their research with high quality. Link of Current Neuropharmacology: https://benthamscience.com/journal/executive-guest-editors.php?journalID=cn

Student Forum of 2019/2020

The incident at PolyU has eventually come into an end after months of unrest. Before the start of the next semester, the Department organized a student forum on January 16, 2020 to share new updates about the future development plans of RS. Nine class representatives from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes were invited to exchange their views with Chair Professor and Head, Prof. Hector Tsang, as well as the President of Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association (HKPA), Prof. Marco Pang and the Chairperson of Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association (HKOTA), Ms Stella Cheng.  Chaired by Prof. Tsang, the forum began with a debriefing by Prof. Shamay Ng on the infrastructural planning of RS in both the short term and long term. Students were excited about the on-going renovation project and the new campus at Homantin which would allow a more flexible use of teaching space in the future.   Another focus of the forum was to discuss the regularization of the current master entry-level programmes. During the meeting, the discussants engaged in a constructive dialogue on various topics, such as the impact of regularization on graduates’ employment opportunities and development of rehabilitation industry. Prof. Marco Pang also shared international experience of hosting postgraduate entry-level programmes of OT and PT, while Ms Stella Cheng spoke about the employment projection of local allied health professionals for the next decade. The feedback from the Professional Associations and the students was positive in general. 

Congratulations to Dr Bolton Chau for being selected as an "APS Rising Star"by the Association for Psychological Science (APS)

Dr Bolton Chau, Assistant Professor of Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) has been selected by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) as one of the "APS Rising Stars" in January 2020. It was announced in the latest issue of the APS communication magazine (please click here and refer to P. 10). The APS Rising Star designation is presented to outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD. Drawing its name from an Observer editorial series that featured exemplars of the exciting work being done by the field's newest researchers, this designation recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions. Dr Chau was being selected as the Rising Star based on his excellence in research with the following criteria: - Significant publications - Significant recognitions - Significant discoveries, methodological innovations, or theoretical or empirical contributions - Work with potentially broad impacts Association for Psychological Science (APS) is the leading international organization dedicated to advancing scientific psychology across disciplinary and geographic borders. It is a highly prestigious professional association for psychologists in the US. For more details about APS, please visit https://www.psychologicalscience.org/.

Prof. Hector Tsang, Head of RS, shared his views on primary health care in a media interview

Professor Hector Tsang, Head of PolyU’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, shared his views on primary healthcare in a media interview. He said the government initiative of setting up District Health Centre across Hong Kong, with the first one launched this September in Kwai Tsing, is a good move. He elaborated that primary healthcare not only helps the elderly to deal with chronic illnesses, but also covers people of different ages, including children, to promote health awareness and preventive measures before acute/chronic illness is developed. Mental health problems, menopausal symptoms and occupational risks are also in the scope. He said allied healthcare professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, nurses and social workers will play significant roles in providing the community with healthcare education and outreach services. At present, PolyU provides 150 full-time degree places in physiotherapy and another 100 places in occupational therapy. With expanded space and teaching facilities in the forthcoming PolyU Homantin new campus, he hopes that the Government will increase the funded degree places for PolyU so as to cope with the talent demand in primary healthcare. Coverage on printed media: HK Economic Times A24, Oriental Daily A13, am730 A22 Online coverage: HK01 - http://trsurl.com/s/2dsj RTHK1 “Morning News Programme” (around 55:15 to 59:40) - http://trsurl.com/s/2dsl Think Hong Kong - https://bit.ly/2qaVvtu