Nurses to learn trade in Israel

Five Nursing students will travel halfway around the world to learn more about nursing and absorb Israeli culture at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The program, which will take the students to Israel for a semester beginning January 28, will include liberal arts as well as nursing classes. Nursing sophomore Marina Kubicek, a participant in the program, said the nursing students will be getting essential junior-year clinical experience at the Hadassah ein-Kerem hospital in Jerusalem. According to Mary Naylor, undergraduate nursing dean, the program began by offering both students and nursing professors the opportunity to go abroad. The academic component of the program in Israel was originally taught by the University nursing faculty members who traveled with the students. "Eventually, a number of faculty members from the school of nursing at Hebrew University came to Penn and received their Ph.D.'s here," Naylor said. "They are now involved in teaching our students." Nursing junior Margaret Crighton said she spent a year abroad in England before coming to the University, and is eager to participate in any study-abroad program available. "I look forward to experiencing not only the medical and nursing aspects but also the culture," she said. "It will be great to really immerse ourselves in a different culture." Like all international students studying at Hebrew University, the five nursing students will take an intensive, one-month Hebrew language course before beginning both the academic semester and their clinical work, said Kubicek, a student in the joint bachelor of science and master's degree program. Knowledge of Hebrew will aid the students in their interaction with patients at the different health care outlets where they will work. Crighton, who said she only knows one Hebrew word, said she is more excited than nervous about her upcoming experience. "I want to see how the health care system over there works," Crighton said. "I will gain a very different perspective on nursing and I hope to apply what I learn over there to my profession here." According to Naylor, the participants will do their clinical work in obstetrics and pediatrics. Crighton said she anticipates that the obstetrics program at Hebrew University will be more extensive than those offered in the United States.

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