Nursing program launches first study abroad program

Callie Denmark and Reagan Cumbie, junior nursing majors, are the first participants in the new nursing study abroad program in partnership with Linnaeus University in Sweden. 

The two will take classes equivalent to those offered at Georgia College, receiving credit while pursuing an international education experience. The program lasts approximately four months, during which time they will be part of an international cohort.

“Linnaeus is well-known for its international programs,” said Sallie Coke, international coordinator and assistant professor for the school of nursing. “They will be in classes with people from China, Africa – all over the world.”

Sweden’s health care system is similar to that of the United States, according to Coke,  which was a determining factor in deciding the location of the program. Linnaeus also offers classes in English, but Cumbie still has concerns over the language barrier.

“Generally, older people spend the most time in the hospital, and I’ve heard that most older people in Sweden don’t speak English. The language barrier will absolutely be a challenge, but hopefully we can be innovative and overcome the difficulty,” Cumbie said.

The program is an exchange, which involves a nursing student transferring from Linnaeus to GC. Coke is hoping it will be an excellent experience for both parties.

“We’re hoping that it’s going to be an eye-opening experience,” Coke said. “Mainly because Sweden has one of the best health care systems in the world.”

Coke began her search for program participants during Spring Semester.

“I went to their classes in the beginning of spring semester and talked to them about the opportunity to go,” Coke said. “I went back and told them I was starting to take applicants. Kelly Denmark and Reagan Cumbie were the ones that managed to make everything come together.”

Denmark and Cumbie were chosen from a pool of 16 applicants. In order to qualify, nursing students must have a superior GPA, be doing well within their cohort and have two recommendations from their current professors.

“I applied because I thought it was an amazing opportunity. Not many people get the chance to just pick up and move to another country for four months,” Denmark said.

Coke will be visiting the nursing students on Sept. 17 in Sweden. She is attending an international nursing conference, which focuses on international exchange to find other countries with similar health care systems.

“I’m hoping (we will have more programs), perhaps in Honduras — I have a contact there,” Coke said. “We also have contact in Belize.”

The selection was critical; however, Coke wishes to keep the demanding requirements.

“I imagine we will keep it to a smaller number because this needs to be special.”

Cumbie hopes to gain experience in the program but also hopes to gain life experience.

“I think I will learn a lot about myself—this will be a very unique adventure, and I’ll have to really overcome the challenge of essentially being alone in a foreign country.”

Posted by AubrieSofala on Sep 1 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.