Rhiarna Ball

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Rhiarna Ball

Monash Nursing and Midwifery Contribute to the Global Alliance of Medical Excellence

The fourth Transnational Educational Initiative (TEI), organised by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Munich, Germany) took place in July. Students from member universities of the Global Alliance of Medical Excellence (GAME), including Monash University were invited to join the program.

The theme this year was Inter-Professional Education and Simulation in Medicine, with invitees discussing a range of topics including: learning how to converse with peers in other professions;  Acquaintance with Crew Resource Management Tools; Assessment of existing Inter-Professional Education (IPE) formats and the development new ones during inter-professional and international group work, as well as how to actively contribute to making ends meet in inter-professional international medical education.

Attending on behalf of Monash Nursing and Midwifery was Rhiarna Ball, a final year student of the Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Midwifery (Honours). Commenting on her experience, Rhiarna says, “From an academic perspective, the TEI days were quite long and information dense. The recent TEI was the first time the GAME had invited other disciplines aside from medicine to attend, as the theme this year was Interprofessional Education (IPE) and interprofessional curriculum development in an international context. In attendance were a small group of selected nursing, pharmacy, and medicine students from Germany,

Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, and Japan, supported by an academic… I was exposed to current research studies and activities initiated by other countries, particularly the host country, to achieve increased teamwork among professions using IPE. For example, simulated ward rounds and case discussions, student led wards, interprofessional geriatric assessment activities, and online IPE programs. It was a fantastic experience.”

Professor Griffiths, Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, said that “The School prides itself on providing a well-rounded education, with a combination of integrated academic study and practice, involving differing perspectives and experiences. With the international borders now opening up we will be encouraging and renewing our collaborations and, in turn, enhancing our students’ opportunities to participate in broader experiences.”

Rhiarna explains how she made the most of her trip, “From a personal perspective, I had an unbelievable cultural experience. Thanks to the incredible flexibility of Monash University, I was able to do my own travel prior to the TEI and for a couple of days after. Being my first time in Europe, I was overly excited to travel to different cities within Germany and to some of the neighbouring countries. I fell in love with pretzels whilst simultaneously mourning the absence of Melbourne quality coffee!”

Monash University is proud to be a part of the Global Alliance of Medical Excellence (GAME), a strategic international network of medical schools that share a common interest in promoting innovative medical education and undertaking impactful research​ and look forward to future collaboration and sending many more students to GAME events in the future.