NEWS & EVENTS
FPB’s Diverse Educational Opportunities Attract Japanese Visitors
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L to R: Kagoshima University's Nao Yoshimoto, Tomoko Sugino, and Maki Shirakawa |
Representatives from Kagoshima University take part in nurse training programs and clinical experiences
During the second half of March 2010, three junior nursing faculty members from Kagoshima University in Japan visited FPB to take part in nurse training programs and clinical experiences that will help them boost their curriculum offerings at their home institution.
Tomoko Sugino, MSN, RN, PHN, Nao Yoshimoto, RN, PHN, and Maki Shirakawa, RN represented the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Kagoshima University in southern Japan. Their two-week visit was filled with activity: nursing course observations, tours and student shadowing at FPB’s clinical partners, meetings with FPB faculty, and visits to nursing organizations and schools throughout the Cleveland area.
Kagoshima University faculty member and PhD student Saori Yamaguchi, MSN, RN, PHN, who is currently at FPB to develop her own research proposal, often accompanied her three colleagues throughout their visit.
The three nurses’ diverse educational interests and backgrounds helped to define the nature of their activities on an individual level. For example, Ms. Sugino’s background in gerontology gave her the chance to meet the residents and nursing staff of Eliza Bryant Village, a prominent nursing home, with Assistant Professor Evelyn Duffy, DNP, ANP/GNP-BC, FAANP. Ms. Yoshimoto, as an oncology nurse, accompanied Assistant Professor Polly Mazanec, PhD, ACNP, AOCN, FPCN for two days at University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center. And Ms. Shirakawa, whose clinical and research interests are in rural nursing and telehealth, spent time with members of the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Ohio as they made patient home visits. She also met with Professor Elizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAAN, who is currently collaborating with Kagoshima University on a WHO Collaborating Center-supported pilot study that focuses on telehealth.
“FPB’s curriculum is excellent. We like the idea that student clinicals begin so early here, at the beginning of the first year. I am hoping that we can move closer to the FPB model in the future.” -- Tomoko Sugino, MSN, RN, PHN |
“Telehealth basically uses phone lines to deliver health care, especially in rural and remote areas,” says Dr. Madigan. “Kagoshima includes a number of tiny southern islands linked by ferry, so an expansion of telehealth technology is ideal for residents in that region.”
“The home visits I participated in with the VNA were very interesting and helpful to me,” says Ms. Shirakawa. “We are looking for new ways to improve our own telehealth system in Kagoshima, and I’ve received some very good ideas.”
“FPB’s curriculum is excellent,” adds Ms. Sugino. “We like the idea that student clinicals begin so early here, at the beginning of the first year. Our own students currently begin clinicals after two years of coursework, but I am hoping that we can move closer to the FPB model in the future.”
The three visitors noticed some intriguing differences between American nursing students and their Japanese counterparts.
“Students here seem very active and motivated,” says Ms. Yoshimoto. “I watched them give a class presentation, and their classmates were very attentive and asked questions. In Japan, students tend to be more quiet and reflective. They don’t ask a lot of questions, so sometimes it can be harder to know what they are thinking!”
“Also, Cleveland has a lot of trees, but no mountains,” adds Ms. Shirakawa. “I was a bit surprised, since in Japan you see mountains everywhere.”
The Kagoshima visit was coordinated by Samira Hussney, MPH, who oversees FPB’s International Health Programs. This office welcomes international scholars and students to the school to work on various collaborative training and research projects and also administers study abroad and international service learning projects for FPB students. So far, dozens of international faculty and students from South Korea, China, and Japan have visited FPB in 2010. Most recently, FPB welcomed ten undergraduate nursing students from the University of Hong Kong.
Posted 4/13/2010