Higher Diploma in Rehabilitation Services | IVE Health & Life Science

Programme Aims

The programme aims to fulfill the VTC mission of providing a valued choice to school leavers to acquire values, professional knowledge and skills of rehabilitation services for lifelong learning as well as valued supports to industries for their manpower development.

The programme equips students with the technical and professional knowledge and skills, together with the necessary language, IT, interpersonal and other generic skills, initially at a paraprofessional level, via the blending of theoretical knowledge and practical application, to enable them to pursue a career in the healthcare and rehabilitation services sector. Graduates may be employed as rehabilitation therapy assistants in public and private hospitals, medical group practices, rehabilitation centers, community clinics and healthcare institutions; medical representatives in healthcare companies; health service education and promotion personnel and so on.

The programme is designed with an emphasis on generic and language training, whole-person development and workplace experience to better prepare students for further studies and employment after graduation.

The programme is linked to the “Earn and Learn” scheme. Upon completion of the full-time first year of this programme¹, the student may choose to study in the “Earn and Learn” scheme. Under the “Earn and Learn” scheme, students can enroll in the seventh semester of the “Earn and Learn” Part-Time (Day) mode. Students will be employed by the participating companies as registered apprentice for two years in the “Earn and Learn”. During the two-year training period, there will be salary, government allowance under the Earn & Learn Scheme, Industry Incentive Allowance and Training Allowance. For the two years of “Earn and Learn” scheme, the employer will sponsor the apprentice to study the Higher Diploma (HD) programme at IVE for one day per week².

For details, please refer to the "Earn and Learn” scheme website.

The tuition fee for the full-time Higher Diploma is paid by the student.
Employers will sponsor the tuition fees for these two years.

This programme is linked to the “Earn and Learn” scheme. Upon completion of the full-time first year of this programme¹, the student may choose to study in the “Earn and Learn” scheme.
Under the “Earn and Learn” scheme, students can enroll in the seventh semester of the “Earn and Learn” Part-Time (Day) mode. Students will be employed by the participating companies as registered apprentice for three years in the “Earn and Learn”. During the three-year training period, there will be salary, government allowance and additional subsidy.For the first two years of “Earn and Learn” scheme, the employer will sponsor the apprentice to study the Higher Diploma (HD) programme at IVE for one day per week². In the third year, full-time on-the-job training will be held at the participating companies.

For details, please refer to the “Earn and Learn” scheme website https://www.vtc.edu.hk/earnlearn/html/en/industry/s6/Rehabilitation.html

Notes:
¹The tuition fee for the full-time Higher Diploma is paid by the student.
²Employers will sponsor the tuition fees for these two years.

Professional Recognition

This programme is an approved ‘Combined Health Worker Training Course’, eligible graduates can apply for registration as Health Worker with the Social Welfare Department.

Graduate can apply for the membership of Associate of the Hong Kong College of Health Service Executives (HKCHSE).

Career Prospects

Graduates may be employed as healthcare personnel or supervisors in public and private hospitals, medical group practices, rehabilitation centers, community clinics and healthcare companies. Graduates may also work in health service, education and promotion.

Curriculum

Duration of Study	2 Years
Mode of Study	Full-time
Offering Campus(es) / Venue(s)	IVE (Kwai Chung)
Entrance Requirements	VTC Diploma of Foundation Studies; OR VTC Diploma of Vocational Education / VTC Diploma of Vocational Baccalaureate; OR Diploma Yi Jin / Diploma of Applied Education; OR Relevant and substantial work experience and/or prior qualification(s) obtained in or outside Hong Kong (e.g. assessed through recognition of prior learning and credit accumulation and transfer), with demonstrated ability to undertake sub-degree education; OR Equivalent Remarks : Applicants can use HKDSE Applied Learning (ApL) subjects (except ApL Chinese) for admission purpose. An "Attained", "Attained with Distinction (I)" and "Attained with Distinction (II)" in an ApL subject (Category B subjects) are regarded as equivalent to an HKDSE subject at "Level 2", "Level 3" and "Level 4" respectively for admission purpose. For 2024 HKDSE and before, a "Grade D or E" and a "Grade C or above" in an HKDSE Other Language subject (Category C subjects) are regarded as equivalent to an HKDSE subject at "Level 2" and "Level 3" respectively; From 2025 HKDSE onwards, Language Proficiency Level A2 or above in French / German / Spanish, N3 or above in Japanese and TOPIK II: Grade 3 or above in Korean are also recognised as one of the five HKDSE subjects in fulfilling the general entrance requirement. Recognition of Urdu Language subject in 2026 HKDSE Other Language subject (Category C subjects) will be announced later. For details, please click here. One Other Language subject can be counted for admission purpose. An "Attained" in HKDSE Citizenship and Social Development is regarded as equivalent to an HKDSE subject at "Level 2" for admission purpose. If one of the five HKDSE subjects is Citizenship and Social Development, the general entrance requirement would become "Attained" for Citizenship and Social Development and Level 2 or above in four other HKDSE subjects including Chinese Language and English Language. Besides, Level 2 or above in Mathematics Extended Part (Module 1 or Module 2) is also recognised as one of the five HKDSE subjects in fulfilling the general entrance requirement. If applicants have taken both Module 1 and Module 2, either one of the modules (with a higher level) will be counted for admission purpose. Applicable to holders of Diploma in Vocational Education / Diploma of Vocational Education (DVE) (students admitted to DVE in AY2017/18 or before are required to complete prescribed further studies modules). Upon completion of the Diploma of Vocational Baccalaureate (DVB) programmes, students can progress to Higher Diploma programmes in VTC, subject to their BTEC and IGCSE results. Applications with work experience and/or prior qualification(s) submitted will be assessed individually by the departments concerned.
Articulation	Graduates can apply for admission to the following programmes : For graduates who opt for further studies, they may articulate to the degree programmes offered by Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi): BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Healthcare Management^{^} BSSc (Hons) in Sports and Recreation Management^{^} ^{^} Students may be required to take different additional core modules Graduates may apply for admission to the following programmes: BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy offered by the Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom; BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy offered by the Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom; BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy offered by the Brighton University, United Kingdom; BHE (Hons) offered by the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK); BSc (Hons) in Applied Sciences (Health Studies) offered by the School of Professional Education and Executive Development, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; BA (Hons) in Business (Health Services Management) offered by the School of Professional Education and Executive Development, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; BSRM with Honours offered by the Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU).
Notes	Students may be required to attend classes on other VTC campuses. VTC reserves the right to cancel any programme, revise programme content or change the offering institute(s) / campus(es) / class venue(s) if circumstances so warrant.