Report on International Virtual Tour

An international virtual visit to Manipal College of Nursing by the students of Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care King’s College London was organized on 11th March 2021. The purpose of the visit was to provide an opportunity to interact with International students and mutually share the experience of health care service delivery, women’s health and social and cultural aspects related to women's health. The programme commenced with the welcome address by Dr Elsa Sanatombi Devi followed by an introduction on a virtual tour by Miss Zahra Khan and Miss Jacqui Boulton, faculty of King’s College London. Dr Raghu A Radhakrishnan, Director – International affairs and collaborations, MAHE addressed the gathering. In his speech, he appreciated MCON for organizing such events in this pandemic situation. Dr Anice George, Dean, MCON briefed about the courses available at MCON Manipal.

Following the college orientation, the first session on public health perspectives was presented by Dr Shashidhara YN, Professor & Head, Department of Community Health Nursing, MCON, MAHE. He addressed on health care delivery system in India, vital statistics, services available, diseases present in India, and also addressed on COVID-19 pandemic.

To provide an opportunity to interact with the international students, five breakout room discussions were performed by 50 UK students and 20 MCON students. Students had a great opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences.

The second session was presented by Dr Judith Angelitta Noronha, Associate Dean, MCON, MAHE on maternal health and programmes – an Indian perspective. In her talk, she mainly highlighted on maternal health issues in India, sociodemographic determinants, maternal health indicators and different schemes available for improvement of maternal and child health in India.

The third session was on social and cultural aspects related to women's health in India by Dr Jagriti Gangopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Coordinator for Center for Women’s study, Manipal Center for Humanities, MAHE. In her session, she narrated the recent laws on increasing the age for marriage and also highlighted on literacy & women empowerment.

There were 88 participants for the meeting from both institutions. This program was coordinated by Dr Shashidhara YN under the guidance of Dr Anice George, Dean MCON and Dr Elsa Santombi Devi, Professor, MCON.