University of Michigan Nursing Students Take Their Careers Global
Ann Arbor, Mich. (PRWEB) April 27, 2016 -- The University of Michigan School of Nursing announced a gift from Sara (BSN ’65) and Robert Rothschild to create the Rothschild Global Health Scholars Program that will support nursing students who want to take their careers global.
“Transformative,” is how UMSN Dean Kathleen Potempa described the Rothschilds’ gift, because it will provide “new resources to send our undergraduate and graduate students to work, study, research and learn alongside faculty and partners around the world.”
The funds will be useful in supporting approved travel and study expenses for nursing students who choose UMSN’s new undergraduate minor in Population Health in a Global Context, or at the graduate-level, a concentration in Global Health, Dean Potempa explained. Current UMSN global nursing projects that could be supported through the Rothschild Global Health Scholars Program include:
• Community health programs on-site in Ecuador and across Latin America, as well as programs via semester-long videoconferencing with Haiti, India and Botswana, which provide cross-cultural opportunities.
• A partnership program with Thailand, now in its third year, which is a model for embedding nurse practitioner students with host institutions to experience primary care delivery in a vastly different setting.
• Ongoing research and practice sites in East Africa, where faculty can bring students into their work, including improving birth and maternal health outcomes in Zambia and Uganda.
“Nurses work with diverse populations every day in the U.S. and elsewhere,” explained Associate Dean for Global Affairs Jody Lori, who also directs the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Collaborating Center at UMSN. “Global immersions contribute to students’ understanding of the social and environmental determinants of health across countries and cultures,” she added.
UMSN community health nursing partnerships in Botswana have already intersected with work initiated by the Robert and Sara Rothschild Family Foundation to build 20 libraries in Botswana. Sara Rothschild credits nursing as motivation for her global work. “It allowed me to develop as a person and taught me how to communicate with other people about their needs and ideas,” she said. “It’s been helpful not just in nursing but in my life. The listening skills we learned in nursing at U-M have been so helpful in being able to work effectively in community development in villages in Botswana.”
The Rothschilds’ gift to UMSN is part of the $4 billion Victors for Michigan campaign ongoing at the University of Michigan. This gift counts toward the $1 billion goal for student support. For more information about the Victors for Michigan campaign, visit https://leadersandbest.umich.edu/.
The School of Nursing has an overall Victors for Michigan campaign goal of $28 million. With this gift, the Rothschilds are contributing to one of the School’s primary campaign components of providing global experiences for students and faculty, helping them to become Champions for All.
About the School of Nursing:
Nursing education at the University of Michigan began in 1891 when a training school for nurses was established in conjunction with the university hospital. In 1941, the school was recognized as an independent teaching unit and was renamed the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Throughout its history, UMSN has evolved to meet changing needs of students, nurse scientists, practitioners, systems, and populations. It stands today as a leader in global health, research, and innovation.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lewis
University of Michigan School of Nursing Communications
400 N. Ingalls, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
734-763-1682
nursing.umich.edu
Madeline Fetchiet, University of Michigan, +1 7347634601, [email protected]
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