Kitchana Kaewkaen
M.Sc. student in Physical Therapy program,
Khon Kaen University, Thailand
E-mail : Ultranawin@gmail.com
" Go out to get more experience" was the phrase which my english teacher "Jackie Hall" gave me before she went to Myanmar. Experience is very important to be successful in your job and life. After I graduated my bachelor degree, I continued to advance my education in a master program degree. I took a lot of courses, was working hard for my thesis and worked as physical therapist part time to fulfill clinical skill experience. When I reminisced to my english teacher, I decided to visit other Physical Therapy schools with the objective to see how Physical Therapy student learn in difference countries becuase I am very interested in the way how foreign students learn their profession. In 2012 I went to National University of Malaysia and In 2013 I decided to visit The Hong Kong Polytechnic University through a private connection.
Why did I decide to visit here?
In 2010 I met a friend "Polly Chung" student from the Hong Kong PolyU in the 1st congress of Asia Physical Therapy Student Association (APTSA) in Taiwan. APTSA created PT students network around Asia. That time I served as a president of Physical Therapy Student Union of Thailand (PTSUT) and was one of the student representatives from Thailand who joined the congress. Since I have known many students in each member countries, I kept contact with them. I knew the Hong Kong PolyU from Polly Chung and visited their website many times. The Hong Kong PolyU rank on the 33rd place of 100 in the Asia university rankings 2013 by the Times Higher Education. The university has many famous prefessors and lecturers who are specialists in each field of Physical Therapy. Their laboratory abd research center are very interesting. The Physical Therapy profession is very strong on an academic base. Hong Kong is also one of the countries which really wanted to visit. So I decided to visit here with my friend "Mr.Aekapap Sawangpak" who is a physical therapist from Buddhachinaraj hospital, Thailand.
What were my activities in the Hong Kong PolyU?
I was visiting the Physical Therapy department of the Hong Kong PolyU during September 29 - October 5, 2013. I had connected with Professor Gabrial Ng who is the chair professor and head of department of rehabilitation science and Associated Professor Dr. Margaret Mak who is the head of physical therapy program several months before my visit. When I arrived to Hong Kong, I stayed in a guesthouse in the Tsim Sha Tsui area. Hong Kong was a fantastic city and it was really crowded by people. The transportation was very convenient. I took the MTR and the bus to difference places but I more loved to walk because I could see people, restaurants, strange buildings and the city scenery.
The 1st day in the university (September 30), I and my friend met the staffs and they gave us the warmest welcome. We really appreciated their kindness. After that we joined the human development across lifespan class. I was a little surprised because the students didn't have a uniform in class. In Thailand we certainly do have a uniform.
The 2nd day (October 2), we attended the orthopeadic and traumatology class. It was a big class. This students could bring a tablet or laptop to join the class but in my class I can not do this. We have only the handout or book for lecturer class. From my observation, they used it for studying only. Not for games or connecting social networks during the lessons. They were good students. After that we visited the PT clinic which was the university clinic. It's bigger than the clinic at my faculty. It was one stop service and modern technology. The cost of treatment is a little higher than in my faculty clinic. May be difference economic standards between these countries. After finishing, we joined the ergo-motor laboratory where Associate Professor Dr. Grace Szeto was director. She was so kind. I was very excited when I tested in her laboratory. She explained everything about her research.
The 3rd (October 3), we started with joining the PT diagnosis & management of cardiopulmonary dysfunction. The class was a small one. Probably it was a practical class. All students were very happy when they practiced to use the equipments in the respiratory physical therapy. They were also acting as physical therapist and patients. They looked like they were acting professional. This day after lunch, I presented a topic in a seminar "The Physical Therapy education system in Khon Kaen University (KKU)". I was very happy when the audiences ask me many questions. I would love to answer their questions and discuss about the differences of education systems between Thailand and Hong Kong. Before the end of this day, we visited gait laboratory where Assistant Professor Dr. Roy Cheung was the director. We also visited balance and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) laboratories where Associated Professor Dr. Margaret Mak was the director. I was very interested in her laboratory and research because I am interested in motor control and learning. My thesis is also involved in human balance. This day was my frist time to try with TMS and I was fascinated with it because it gave me more insight in the cortical homunculus and involuntary control. I love the time when discussing with Dr. Margaret about her research. I could learn new things from her experience and she inspired me to get the idea to develop the low cost innovation for the patients.
The 4th day (October 4), we visited the human anatomy laboratory room. The room was very clean and had many models for learning. I was surprised when I got to know that the students here didn't dissect gross anatomy. Just observation and learning from the models. The officer did it for them. In KKU, students did the gross anatomy dissection by themselves. There were 4-5 students in each group. We studied the gross anatomy for 1 year (a total of 8 credits) and studied the neuroanatomy for 1 semister (3 credits). After finishing, I went to visit the laboratory where Professor Macro Pang was the director. His research was about training the stroke patients by whole-body vibration. First time for me to see this method of a stroke training.
The 5th day (October 5), was the last day in Hong Kong and was one of the important days of the university which was the information day (I think it's like an open day in Thailand). The university held the activities to promote the curriculum for high school students. They were very interested in Physical Therapy profession. I was proud of the PT student here. We had moved our profession forward together.
It was a short time to stay in Hong Kong but I think it was one of the best memories in my life. I got a lot of experience within the limited time. All staffs and students here were very friendly and helping me a lot when I was staying in Hong Kong. I and my friend would like to thank the Chair Professor and head of department of rehabilitation science, the head of Physical Therapy program who allowed us to visit here. The staffs who allowed us to attend the class and research room. Dr. Margaret and Dr. Billy who took care of us. We also would like to thank the students who brought us to everywhere especially the Hong Kong-APTSA student group, you are the best hosts for us. I hope someday I will return to Hong Kong again. Wait for me Hong Kong !
Acknowledgement
This article was improved by my best friend "Ralf Kraft" who is the Physical Therapist from Germany. I would like to thank you for his helping.
