Overseas nursing internship gets $15,000 boost

 

If anyone can appreciate a healthy ‘shot in the arm’ like this one, it’s VCC’s nursing department.

It has received a $15,000 international education award from the Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society. The award was developed to recognize and support the exchange of knowledge across borders and oceans.

The funding will go toward a six-week practical internship for six VCC students studying to become registered nurses. In May, they’ll travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh to study how primary health care works in a third world country. The internship, now in its third year, is a result of a unique partnership with the International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology.

“There are benefits to expanding your horizons to see how health care systems in other countries operate,” says Kathy Fukuyama, VCC nursing department head. “These settings offer diverse experiences in a wide range of socio-economic conditions.”

This is the second consecutive year the VCC-Bangladesh internship program has been chosen to receive the $15,000 grant.

It was made possible in part by the VCC Foundation, which acts as the bridge between scholarships like these and college programs or initiatives in need of extra funding. This helps ensure VCC students are afforded unique educational opportunities without shouldering too much financial burden.