UQ health sciences students head to Vietnam and Timor Leste

It’s a time for learning, discovery and engagement. Students from the UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences will spend the coming month in Vietnam and Timor Leste. Head of School Professor Louise Hickson said the immersive educational experiences would develop the students both professionally and personally.
“We will be building an ethos of international collaboration and cooperation in our occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology students,” Professor Hickson said.

“The students will be placed with the University of Hue College of Medicine and Pharmacy in Vietnam and the Centre for National Rehabilitation in Dili, East Timor.
“There, they will work with interprofessional teams to engage in healthcare and rehabilitation services.
“We’re contributing to building an Australian workforce that understands global health perspectives in a culturally diverse context.”
This will be the fifth occasion that UQ has sent students to the University of Hue, and the third time it has placed students within the Centre for National Rehabilitation in Dili. Students undertaking the Timor Leste placements have received funding as part of the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program, which promotes collective strengthening of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences Executive Dean Professor Bruce Abernethy said that encouraging experience abroad was central to how the University of Queensland conducted itself as a global institution.
“This project recognises the need to produce flexible, broad-thinking, culturally aware graduates,” Professor Abernethy said.
“Students are enabled to become outward thinking in their healthcare focus, via engagement with organisations, clients and families.
“Students demonstrate the ‘UQ Advantage’ through embodiment of the rich array of opportunities provided by our university partnerships network.
“Assessing student outcomes from these experiences also allows us a chance to strengthen UQ’s reputation as a global leader in teaching and learning research.”
Both groups of students—in Vietnam and Timor Leste—commenced the in-country experience on May 9, 2016 and finish on June 3, 2016.
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If you have any questions about studying physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech pathology programs at the University of Queensland, please contact OzTREKK Admissions Officer Krista McVeigh at krista@oztrekk.com.