Nepal

The Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), a public university located in the southwestern part of the Kathmandu valley, was created to improve health in rural areas and to provide more health professionals to serve them. It was approved by the Nepalese parliament in 2008.

There are many strategies incorporated into the design to improve health and health services in urban and rural areas. PAHS is linked with the neighboring Patan Hospital where students learn clinical skills and PAHS faculty provide role models within the hospital. Students in the program are also linked with a rural village where, for the six year duration of their program, they will develop, implement, and eventually assess a community health project.

“Teaching in Nepal is so rewarding—I love interacting with the students and learning so much about international educational differences. In this past visit, I learned far more from the faculty and students at PAHS than I think they learned from me.” -Jane Gair

Carol-Ann Courneya, one of the three AHED volunteers, has been involved in the development of PAHS since its inception in 2003. She served as co-chair of the Faculty Development Committee, and is a member of the Executive Committee for the International Advisory Board. She has led problem-based learning tutor training and case writing workshops each year since 2004.

Courneya along with two other AHED volunteers, Jason Waechter and Jane Gair, will deliver two courses in basic medical science this year to 60 students who began the program in 2010, the first group attending PAHS. Their counterparts are Ira Shrestha, Babu Rajha Maharjan and Mili Joshi, the block leaders in Nepal who, along with their teams, will work with the Canadians. The apprenticeship model being used incorporates teaching and curriculum and faculty development. The UBC faculty will teach the courses to the students this year, provide on-site support for the Nepalese block leaders next year, and support them online in 2013.

Gair, a PhD in medical genetics, is the Director of Faculty Development at the Island Medical Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and is also a member of the International Advisory Board for PAHS. She went to Nepal from March 27 to April 22 to teach the four-week Human Biology block to the first-year students at PAHS. This included tutoring small groups three times a week using problem-based cases developed with the PAHS counterparts. She also facilitated tutor training and case writing for faculty members.

Courneya and Waechter (a clinical care physician and an anesthetist), are at PAHS during June and July delivering the cardiovascular block at PAHS. They will spend six weeks teaching the course, observing the post-block evaluation to be carried out by students and tutors, and working with their counterparts to incorporate the feedback into planning for next year’s courses.

AHED volunteers:
Carol Ann Courneya, PhD Cardiovascular Physiology (UBC);
Jason Waechter, MD (UBC), FRCPS; Jane Gair, PhD Medical Genetics (UBC).
They all teach in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.