Reflection on Kerla Visits
Sandra Muirhead and Jane McLean, Senior Lecturers and leaders of the Educational Team reflect on the visit to Kerala, Thrissur in India.
In our role as leaders of the Kerala educational visit since 2011, we have developed our knowledge and understanding of Indian culture, religion, healthcare provision and education, international collaborative working and interprofessional learning. We recruit senior health and social care students for these visits, and as students begin to work together as a group, we quickly see interprofessional collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experiences that builds on their classroom learning. We believe that this continues as the students experience real life health and social care on daily placements in hospital and community settings in Thrissur Kerala, where they are able to share their learning with each other. This is then further enhanced with input from their fellow Indian nursing students whilst on placement and during clinical supervision sessions.
Having an understanding of Indian culture and religion is thought to be essential both in terms of social etiquette and in relation to health and social care. For instance, where there is an importance placed on dress code, particularly for women, when the religious beliefs impact on unwanted pregnancies, where it is the social norm for the grandmother to accept the new born baby rather than the mother and where it is expected that a family member or friend should provide most of the personal care for inpatients.
Students who accompany us each year benefit from placement experiences to all clinical areas within a very busy 1800 bed hospital which additionally has a research institute, Ayurvedic centre, Smile Train, both nursing and medical colleges and a college for allied health. The wealth of experience that this offers our students and facilitators is unique and invaluable in order to gain a real understanding of global health issues.
A further unique experience for both staff and students is the opportunity to present at an International conference each year, which has enabled us to develop both professionally and personally. The students appear to gain in confidence and self-awareness whilst developing their ability to speak publically in a formal setting. A balance between healthcare and social experiences is important and in line with this we ensure that the group have the opportunity to visit waterfalls, elephant sanctuaries, temples and churches and the local shopping area and markets.
Our collaborative research project into the management of burns in rural Kerala is almost complete. Undertaking this project whilst in India, enlightened us to the differences in research understanding and approaches between the UK and Keralan students. It was thought to be important that the Keralan students were given the opportunity to lead the literature scoping exercise and also to produce a culturally sensitive educational poster on burns within the community.
This year saw the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Canterbury Christ Church University and the Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, by Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, Vice Chancellor and Principal and Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath respectively. This is an achievement that we feel very proud to have been a part of and will ensure that the relationship between the two institutions will continue to develop in years to come.