Ethiopia is a country with a high disease burden. At the same time, there is a significant shortage of healthcare workers in the country, with only one-fourth of healthcare positions being filled. To address this challenge, the country aims to educate more healthcare professionals. The need for rapid expansion has placed increased pressure on both educational institutions and healthcare workers.

EPHAM-NORPART is a collaborative project between the Faculty of Health Sciences at VID Specialized University and two universities in Ethiopia: the College of Medicine and Health Science at Ambo University (AU) and the Faculty of Public Health at Jimma University (JU).

The project includes the arrival of six master's students to Norway in the fall of 2023, where they will stay in Oslo for two and a half months. They will come in two groups of three students each. The students will have a 14-day observational practice related to "Hospital-based Nursing Care." The first group includes a nurse, a midwife, and a health officer.

Exchanging knowledge enhances skills

- There is a significant difference in how patients are treated here; it's almost like taking care of family members, says Eticha, who has made several observations during the work experience in Oslo. All three students mentioned that patient care has been interesting to observe.

- The relationship between healthcare workers and patients is friendly, and a lot of information is freely shared. Patients are also not scared to ask questions, Tajeba points out

There is immense pressure on healthcare services in Ethiopia, and Kinate emphasizes that for nurses in Ethiopia, it would be challenging to perform the same type of patient care as in Norway. Still, one thing is the same:

- All nurses care about the patient. Nurses in Ethiopia have fewer resources than they do in Norway, but we still work for the patients and to better understand them.

The project aims to enhance the quality of academic staff in Ethiopia relevant to clinical nursing and public health work, as well as to strengthen international collaboration between universities in Norway and Ethiopia through knowledge exchange.

Kinate encourages both Norwegian and Ethiopian students to go on exchanges and share experiences with each other.

- When we meet people from other countries, we gain new knowledge. When I return to Ethiopia, I have new knowledge that I can share with my friends at other universities, and they, in turn, share it with their friends. Knowledge gets better this way.

Possible practice opportunities in Ethiopia for VID's students

It is entirely possible for VID's students to go on exchanges to Ethiopia. VID offers the following exchange opportunities to Ethiopia:

• Bachelor in nursing: 4th and 5th semester
• Further education and master's programs in nursing: Spring semester

Please contact Tesfaye Hordofa Leta, tesfaye.leta@vid.no (EPHAM project leader), and Ulrik Thomsen, ulrik.thomsen@vid.no (Unit of international affairs), if you have any questions about the project. For questions related to exchange, please contact the coordinators at the faculty.