Going international for Level III placement

Why an international placement? I've been asked this question many times, both in Canada and Hong Kong (HK), by family, friends and colleagues. This moment right now is a good chance to remind myself of why I chose to be on the other side of the world for my final placement. Especially since I will be writing my placement goals soon!

Why go international?

• To be fully immersed in the Chinese culture, as more than just a tourist.
• As a CBC (Chinese born Canadian), I've only identify with my Chinese culture through my parents. This is a chance for me to really experience Chinese culture and better develop a sense of what "Being Chinese" means to me.
• To see and learn about how OTs work on the other side of the world.
• To learn about the healthcare system and Hong Kong.
• To continue to gain self-awareness about what kind of OT I want to be.
• To develop my skills in cultural competency.

Let me first introduce the hospital where I have my placement. I don't know everything about this hospital yet but here's some general information:

Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital at Sandy Bay:

• part of the West Cluster of the HK Hospital Authority
• Public health is under the Food and Health Bureau. This is further divided, with the Hospital Authority governing public hospitals, while HK's Department of Health manages public health services such as treatment centres (e.g. for the elderly or child assessments) and clinics in the community or schools.
• Their OT department is specialized in the areas of:
• Orthopaedics & Traumatology (Spine Surgery and Paediatric Orthopaedics)
• Developmental Paediatrics
• Child Neurology
• Neurohabilitation
• This hospital started with specialized services for children, and is now world renown for their paediatric orthopedics services and provides treatment and rehabilitative services for adults and the elderly as well.

I've only had one week of placement and I already know that I'm going to be extremely busy until the very end. I'm going to aim for a weekly blog post to document my international placement experience...

For now...

Hong Kong is Home. from Javin Lau on Vimeo.