Learning beyond borders!

By: Alejandro García Suárez – Advisory Office of Communications

The "Dialoguing with the World" program promotes educational internationalization and expands knowledge beyond geographical borders. On this occasion, four Occupational Therapy students from the Adventist University of Chile are participating in the Nursing program at the Girardot campus, from June 4th to 28th, 2024.

According to Carlota Castro Quintana, Nursing Knowledge and Learning Manager: “We are building proposals together with other academic disciplines such as occupational therapy in order to benefit diverse population groups, including school-aged adolescents and older adults in community and institutional settings, such as nursing homes.”.

Castro Quintana added that the work also includes sexual and reproductive health, currently focusing on the LGBTQ+ population of Girardot and high-risk pregnant women with nutritional deficiencies. “We are conducting workshops on myths and beliefs during pregnancy and newborn care, and we will also focus on early stimulation,” she explained.

“It has been a unique opportunity to learn from their approach and mission, despite the differences in health policies. Their respect and maturity in addressing these issues are admirable and enrich us as an institution,” he noted.

For her part, María Victoria Rojas Martínez, Knowledge and Learning Manager, emphasized the importance of focusing student activities from the perspective of institutionalized seniors, as well as those who live at home or receive external care. The Girardot Secretariat of Economic and Social Development works in conjunction with the Disability program to provide support to people with disabilities and their caregivers.

Rojas Martínez mentioned that an occupational therapy assessment was conducted, and direct intervention was carried out with both the individual and their family caregiver. In addition, group workshops were held to encourage activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living in older adults, with the goal of strengthening their development and improving their quality of life.

According to information provided by Adriana Hernández Bustos, a Nursing professor, along with the two Chilean students, two nursing homes in Girardot were visited to carry out activities with elderly adults with cognitive and physical limitations, as well as the development of communication strategies, cognitive stimulation, executive functions, motor and perceptual skills, with very favorable results from the elderly.

Internships that shape learning

Valeria Paz Miranda Angulo, an Occupational Therapy student at the Adventist University of Chile, explains that it has been a satisfying and enriching experience that definitely positively marks her professional practice because she has been able to carry out internships through visits to various centers attending to children, adolescents and older people.

“We’ve had the opportunity to visit a kindergarten, a senior citizens” home, the Girardot disability office, and Casa UDEC, where we interacted with a group of active seniors. This week, we also participated in a meeting of the LGBTQ+ community and are working with high-risk pregnant and breastfeeding women. These activities mark the end of our internship,” said Miranda Angulo.

She also expressed her gratitude for the hospitality of the University of Cundinamarca and the support received from the Nursing program faculty: “They have treated us with great affection and kindness. We are delighted with Colombia and very grateful for this enriching experience that has allowed us to learn about its culture and so much in every place we have visited,” the student concluded.

This initiative not only strengthens academic ties between institutions, but also enriches knowledge and professional practice in healthcare.

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