For Singaporean-born physiotherapist Fang Qi ‘Ashleigh’ Hoo APAM, a career in healthcare has always been about people. 

Long before she entered university in Australia, Ashleigh knew that she wanted a profession grounded in human connection.

‘Since I was in high school, I’ve looked at doing something people-facing.’ 

That clarity guided a journey that would take her halfway across the world—and ultimately into the disability sector, where she is already making her mark as the new graduate representative on the APA Disability national group’s New South Wales committee.

Ashleigh’s pathway to physiotherapy began with a leap of faith. 

She had never set foot in Australia when she accepted a government scholarship to study overseas. 

She began her physiotherapy degree at the University of Sydney in 2020—just weeks before COVID-19 shut borders and
disrupted study plans everywhere. 

After a brief stay, Ashleigh returned home and completed some of her coursework online, finally returning to Australia in 2022 to finish the remaining coursework and practical components of the four-year degree.

Ashleigh Hoo.

After graduating in 2024, Ashleigh began her first professional role at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore, a requirement of her scholarship. 

There, she is completing her training in paediatrics and women’s health—areas that strongly influenced her growing passion for disability care.

Working with children with neurological conditions, including those supported by a framework similar to Australia’s NDIS, revealed the long-term impact physiotherapists can have in this area.

Her connection to the disability sector was first made and strengthened during her honours research project in Sydney. 

Working under a supervisor with strong expertise in disability research, Ashleigh explored a sensitive and often overlooked aspect of care: sexual health support for people with mild intellectual disability. 

The project pivoted several times due to survey fatigue and evolving NDIS reforms but it sparked a deep interest. 

‘I’m very passionate about this area, where women’s health and disability converge.’

This blend of clinical exposure and academic engagement led Ashleigh to seek a more active role in the disability community.

When she learned of an opportunity to join the APA Disability group’s New South Wales committee as its new graduate representative, she didn’t hesitate.

Ashleigh brings a unique cross-cultural and cross-system perspective to patient care as she trained in Australia and is now practising in Singapore.

This dual experience enables the best practices from both healthcare systems, supports more holistic and patient-centred rehabilitation and strengthens advocacy for patients with disabilities by navigating clinical, social and systemic barriers to care. 

This comparative insight gives Ashleigh a unique perspective when contributing to the committee’s conversations about disability, advocacy and emerging practice.

Looking ahead, Ashleigh knows disability will remain a core part of her career. 

She has upcoming rotations in paediatric neurological care, including working with children with cerebral palsy and other long-term conditions—clinical areas that naturally intersect with disability support. 

‘We meet people at their most vulnerable and connecting with them at that point is so important.’

Ashleigh encourages students and new graduates to keep an open mind about disability practice, focusing on ability rather than disability. 

‘The skills we learn from working with people with disabilities can be taken anywhere to provide patient-centred care.’

For Ashleigh, saying ‘yes’ to a committee role with the Disability group while working abroad, staying connected to Australia and immersing herself in an area that deeply values continuity of care has been transformative. 

‘It’s important for me to contribute back to a place that’s given me so much.’