Four nursing students from Curtin’s Health Sciences will travel to Tanzania for the first time in November to broaden their healthcare skills, provide care to people in the developing world, and to expand their cultural awareness.
Professor Mark Jones the Program Director of the Global Health Alliance Western Australia (GHAWA) said that the four nursing students would be travelling to Tanzania as a result of a number of generous scholarships that had been provided by the GHAWA through the Department of Health, Western Australia.
“The placements are unique in that it is the first time the five WA universities have collaborated, as part of the GHAWA program, in sending a combined student and supervisor cohort to a developing country,” said Professor Jones.
“The trip will expose students to a unique healthcare environment which will improve their ability to work in challenging settings and help them to adapt to new cultural scenarios.”
The Curtin student nurses will travel with expert clinicians and will commence placements at Hubert Kairuki Memorial Hospital and Amana Hospital in the Tanzanian former capital of Dar Es Salaam.
They will also travel to two rural community health centres, Masaki and Masangaya Health Centres, where they will undertake supervised clinical practice.
Briony James, a third year student said that the nursing group would be visiting Tanzania for two weeks.
“I have never been to Tanzania before, so this will be a productive and educational learning curve for me in terms of my nursing practice,” said Briony.
“It will also be a valuable and rare opportunity to visit a unique country and have a first hand look at their healthcare system. I’m looking forward to working with other nursing students from other universities.
“I’m also excited about experiencing another culture and becoming familiar with the way people live in developing countries, in particular the way in which they cope with health and illness.”
Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Professor Philip Della said that the international placements would allow the students to develop skills and knowledge in dealing with transcultural healthcare issues.
Contacts:
Denise Cahill, Public Relations, Curtin
Tel: 08 9266 1931, Mobile: 0401 103 683, email: d.cahill@curtin.edu.au
