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Sending university students abroad to further their education has long been supported by the government and universities. After all, the benefits have been clear for some time.
As the nature of the modern workforce becomes increasingly global, gaining cultural insights and learning how other countries adapt to shifts in technology and employer expectations are becoming more important.
While some institutions rely on the Federal Government’s New Colombo Mobility Program, some universities have their own international placement programs.
One of them is Charles Sturt University, which will be sending paramedicine and nursing students abroad to further their training in the field of health science.
Some 32 paramedicine students from the University’s Bathurst and Port Macquarie campuses will soon be going to Canada or New Zealand, where they will engage in ambulance services as part of their practical placements.
Of the total students, 12 will be taking part in Charles Sturt University’s first paramedicine work experience program in Canada. The other 20 will take part in the study program in New Zealand, which is already in its third cycle.
“The trips offer students the chance to apply the skills and knowledge they have learned at university to real-life situations and gain additional insight by experiencing how overseas ambulance services operate,” Robert Bear, a paramedicine lecturer at the University’s School of Biomedical Sciences, said.
Bear, who is also the faculty member in charge of organising the Canada program, said the trip presents an “invaluable opportunity” to create and develop international networks.
“Because our paramedicine graduates work all over the world, these overseas work placements can lead to employment in the future,” he said.
The 12 students going to Vancouver Canada will be leaving in mid-November to visit the Justice Institute of British Columbia and train with the British Columbia Emergency Health Services for three weeks.
The University has been making an effort to solidify its ties with the paramedics industry in Canada, having announced last August that it will be offering Canadian advance care paramedics a chance to convert their diplomas to bachelor’s degrees through an online study program.
The students going to New Zealand will be leaving in late December. Four students will be working with Wellington Free Ambulance to experience emergency dispatch, call centre work and extended care.
The remaining 16 will be placed with the St John New Zealand Ambulance Service until late January where they will be helping out paramedics in medical tents at the Rhythm and Vines music festival before going on a four-week on-road paramedic placement.
Asia-bound students
Though less in number, some 13 second-year nursing majors will be flying out to Cambodia this week to extend medical aid for two weeks while furthering their education on international practices.
For this international placement program, the University tied up with the global organisation Projects Abroad, further supported by the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program funding.
These students will be working in rural communities to provide screening and assessment for chronic diseases as well as provide education on diabetes, hypertension and healthy living in the Southeast Asian country.
Before they head back, these nursing students will also go to Phnom Penh to distribute 120 kits which include reusable sanitary products to girls there.
Amanda Moses, a lecturer at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health in Charles Sturt’s Wagga Wagga campus, said the trip will serve as a “cultural awakening” as these students will experience first-hand the struggles of international medical systems.
“They are watching people practice with limited resources and they get a whole new appreciation for what we have here. It gets them thinking in different ways about health care,” she said.
Nursing students are usually given a chance to take part in international placements in other Asian countries like India and the Philippines upon reaching their second and third years.