Background: Hong Kong is at the cross-road between Eastern and Western cultures. Increasing globalisation allows student to gather experiences from various educational contexts. While internationalisation has been promoted in higher education world-wide, the focus was often put on students from Chinese cultures integrating into Western education systems. Not much is known about how students from Chinese background with exposures to Western cultures, reintegrate into a Hong Kong university, characterised by a highly competitive system that potentially affects students’ well-being.
Aim: To identify learning preferences by Hong Kong physiotherapy students who have been exposed to Western and Eastern educational contexts, and to describe their experiences during entry-level postgraduate studies.
Methods: Ten students participated in this phenomenological study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in English, transcribed ‘ad verbatim’ and analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings: Three themes emerged from the data: (1) Interaction between students and teachers, (2) past experiences that help with future dreams, and (3) obstacles and opportunities in learning.
Conclusion Hong Kong physiotherapy students rely on their past educational exposure to give meaning to their experience. They believe that a student-centred approach is crucial for learning. Their globalised experiences shed light on consideration factors for optimally internationalising the physiotherapy curriculum.

Background: Communication is fundamental in collaborative physiotherapy practice. Students develop understandings of what constitutes ‘good’ communication through the formal, informal and hidden curricula. Understanding how students understand communication and how this is influenced by the curricula can help educators consider how best to enhance communication knowledge and skills.
Aim: This study explored how physiotherapy students conceptualised clinical communication.
Methods: This study was underpinned by a social constructionist epistemology. Data consisted of fifteen assignments, completed by students as part of their coursework. Assignments were analysed using the Listening Guide which prompted attention to how the different ways students understood communication and how these understandings were constructed.
Results: Communication was understood as uni-dimensional. It was presented as an act done to the patient by the physiotherapist, with little attention to the patient’s communication and involvement in the interaction. Through communication, physiotherapists demonstrated and reinforced their expertise while simultaneously positioning the patient as the recipient of care and knowledge.
Conclusion: Understandings of communication reflect broader constructions of physiotherapy and the role of the physiotherapist. These also reflect tensions in the curricula. Enhancing communication in student education requires all parties to understand, value and critically reflect on how communication is constructed and enacted.