TUAS International Week Through the Eyes of Three Swiss Exchange Students
As three Swiss nursing students on an exchange in Turku, we participated in the international week organized by TUAS. We were especially delighted, because it was first time for us to participate in this kind of event.
During the week, each participant was able to enrol to different seminars. As health care students we chose to follow the ones linked to our own field. It was relevant for us to have the possibility to discover several health care systems and view of caring presented at lectures given by international teachers. They came from Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Turkey, Sweden, Austria, United Kingdom, Poland, and of course Finland.
Integration of immigrants introduced
One of the days was devoted to a workshop hosted by two organisations: Halaten (From Vulnerable Childhood to Healthy and Safe Adulthood) and Institute of Migration. The Halaten project “…enhances integration of unaccompanied minors to Finnish society and gives support and social networks for these youngsters in the new home country. The other aim is to develop the skills of the professionals working with the youngsters.” (Halaten, 2014).
The Institute of Migration is, among other things, responsible “to develop co-operation between the universities and special organizations related to migration, both within Finland and abroad.” (Institute of Migration, 2014)
We participated in a morning introduction but, unfortunately, some parts of the seminar were only in Finnish. Still, we were able to get the major points. Moreover, we had an opportunity to discover deeper some actions to improve refugee integration in Finland.
Discovering different health care systems
Another day we visited the Salo campus, where the lectures were more health care oriented. The topics included e.g. Venous leg ulceration, Safety netting in acute childhood illness, Self-determination of death in the hospital for children. The day was instructive, dynamic and pleasant.
Thanks to the international week, we experienced many types of teaching, and learned about different European health care systems. This last point is especially important, because we sincerely think that by meeting and confronting multiple cultures of caring we can improve our students knowledge and skills.
Text: Tamara Pasche, Tania Ovalle, Dimitri Augé