Representatives from Sacred Heart Nursing College, which is located in Madurai, India, came to Gannon last week to ratify an agreement that created an exchange program between the two institutions.
It is the hopes of both parties involved that this exchange program will help in working toward the advancement of mutual goals in teaching, research, experiential learning and understanding.
Sacred Heart was founded by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Dindugal, a city that sits in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The college offers a program that leads to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
As far as the agreement between Gannon and Sacred Heart goes, there are plans to offer students at Sacred Heart a Gannon nursing elective class during the spring semester, followed by fieldwork in occupational therapy next summer.
Steve Mauro, Ph. D., the dean of Gannon’s Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences, said he feels the exchange program will be beneficial for Gannon students because the practice of medicine is very different in India compared to America.
“This agreement creates opportunities for Gannon University students to interact with students or participate in distance learning that involves Gannon nursing faculty and faculty in India,” Mauro said.
Junior nursing major Chad Kaltenbach said he feels that nursing students will benefit from this partnership.
“It allows us to learn about other cultures and their way of nursing versus the American way,” he said.
Kaltenbach said child birthing is a specific practice that is different in India than it is in the United States. In India they turn the woman on her side, while in the United States women lay on their backs as they give birth. He said he feels that it is important to know both methods.
“It’s like I’m learning from them while they are also learning from me,”Kaltenbach said.
“It enables me to blend my own way of doing things with their ways of doing things, which I feel will make us all better nurses in the future.”
It is not just Gannon students who can benefit from this partnership; there are also many opportunities that could be of value to Gannon faculty.
According to Mauro, Gannon faculty will be able to both teach as well as participate in scholarship. Faculty can travel and spend time in India for short durations for special courses, lectures and other collaboration. They can also spend longer durations at the school as visiting professors.
The agreement between Sacred Heart and Gannon is only one example of how Gannon has been creating similar arrangements with other schools throughout the world. In years prior to this agreement, Gannon had already signed agreements with schools in Germany, Ireland, Poland, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia.
“This agreement will allow for learning a standard of operation from a different culture and opportunity to travel to India,” Mauro said.
“It will also present opportunities to participate in coursework and appreciate the diverse differences that globalization studies afford our students.”
CHARLES LEAR
