Exchange report - incoming students
Home university: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Study programme: Public Health Sciences (Master's)
Exchange programme: Erasmus Mundus Action 2
Semester: Autumn and spring semester 2011/2012
Name: Andrew Scheibe
Email address: andrew.scheibe@gmail.com

Arrival and registration

The introduction periods were well organised and provided necessary information. I received information about the health centre, but did not need to use the services provided. 
Glasgow Caledonian University

Acommendation

I was very fortunate to be  provided accommodation through UAC - this included all the requirements and the friendly staff were able to assist with any issues which arose during my time in Sweden.

The standard of living is high.  Heating is very important and I found the rent to be high. 
Mitt boende med utsikt över fotbollsstadion och stan.

Leisure time and social activities

There seemed to be regular events arranged for exchange students. The one which I went  to was fun and well attended. Information was widely distributed using email, it would be good information about events to be emailed as well as posted on Facebook - for those who choose not to use Facebook or other social platforms. I made a few Swedish friends. 
Ute på utflykt med International student association.

Pre-departure

I decided to apply for a masters exchange in order to broader my horizons.  Before my exchange my technical skills and knowledge base had been influenced by my South African education.  I chose to seek opportunities for exchange in Sweden due to its ongoing partnerships with developing countries which focus on human rights,  Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender rights and HIV interventions. As Sweden's leading medical research institute, KI was the obvious choice.  
Good information was available on the KI website. The exchange programme  website provided necessary information in order to assess the possibilities of exchange in different institutions. Planning was good and travel arrangements were made without any problems.

Courses during the exchange period

3GB014 : GH-Health Policy, Management and Economics
Overall: Good Content: Good, covered many topics Examination: Good use of quesions which were well contextualised, however only a few questions were provided Quality: Overall good. Relavence: Very relevant Teaching/ supervision: Good Strengths: Good economic and economic evaluation components. Good use of real life experience on programme design Opportunity for improvements: Discuss with CHild health programme - the assignment 1 for Child health was extremely good (well structured, clear guidelines, clear description of manner of assessment etc), and may have been better suited to the programme management course
3GB013 : GH-Maternal and child health in a global perspective
Overall: Good Content: Good Examination: No examination. 2 assignments (assignment 1 very good, and in line with "real world" reality, described above. Assignment 2, was very similar to assignment 1, even though done individually - again, few new skills harnessed). Quality: Good Relavence: Highly relevant Teaching/ supervision: Very good, especially child health component Strengths: International visiting lecturer, providing good background and supporting literature Opportunity for improvements: Improved communication between KI and visiting lecturers
3GB000 : GH-Global Health
Overall: An important course, and of increasing global importance. This is where much attention will be faced in the future. The course did manage to cover many topics within a short period. Content: Covered a wide variety of topics, however, objectives and learning outcomes were not clear. Examination: The group assignment guidelines needed more clarity in terms of marking schedule. I would suggest providing additional questions in the exam. Quality: Overall fair, good facilitated discussions occured Relavence: This is the core of the degree Teaching/ supervision: Fair Strengths: A course leader from a developing country; coverage of a wide number of topics; good discussions Opportunity for improvements: I would suggest moving this course to the end of the "taught component". In reality, this course would do well to pull together all the smaller courses which are in fact the building blocks of global health. More discussion could be obtained through discussions around global health topics
3GB001 : GH-Research Methodology
Overall: Good Content: Good, attempts to cover too many topics. It is not feasible to cover basic epi, biostats and advanced epi within such a short time. A final session to put all things into perspective would be of value Examination: fair Quality: fair Relavence: extremely important Teaching/ supervision: very good lecturers Strengths: Provision of teaching for quantitative and qualitative methods, cover wide range of topics Opportunity for improvements: More focused; clear session at the end to contextualise topics
3GB016 : GH-Infectious Diseases - a challenge to global health: Clinical, social and preventive aspects (GH)
Overall: Good Content: Some topics covered very well, others not so well. TB was only covered in terms of resistance and vaccination - more on standard treatment is needed. Some Swedish STI data provided was very out of date and not relevant - not being presented recent data in Sweden is disappointing (since the record keeping here is so amazing!) Examination: Controversial. The examination only had a limited number of questions, which were not well contextualised. There were concerns among students about unfairness of the exam. Results of the exam were also disseminated to students and then retracted, a very unprofessional action, which caused distress. I believe that the exam was poor, and could have been improved. In the future I suggest the provision of more questions (perhaps also with a selection of questions for completion). Students should take responsibility of their learning and broader reading and if results are published they should not be retracted. I feel that the university teachers should be able to be accountable for the exams they set, and they should not change results, by adjusting results I feel that the vailidity of the examination is nulled. Assignment: Like other courses required a similar tasks Quality: Fair Relavence: Extremely relevant Teaching/ supervision: Good Strengths: KI has several infectious disease experts, their insights are a major contribution to the course, particularly around HIV & TB resistance Opportunity for improvements: Ensure "basics" are covered, and then specialist areas of interest should be complimentary
3GB015 : GH-Non-communicable diseases, injuries, natural emergencies and conflicts in a global health perspective (GH)
Overall: Clashes between lecturer personality and students Content: Good context, good intensions Examination: Different to other courses which was refreshing Quality: Fair Relavence: Very Teaching/ supervision: Poor communication between teaching staff and students. Strengths: Use of small groups and up to date literature; peer to peer review and teaching Opportunity for improvements: Improve student - lecturer communication, use of written clear instructions
Lärarna

Summary

Overwhelmingly a great experience. I have been able to engage with many Swedes on a professional and social level. It has been really good to spend time at KI.

I have been greatly impressed by KI's facilities, research groups, networks and opportunities for collaborations. I am optomistic that I will continue a professional relationship with colleagues at KI. 

I have been disappointed by the overall organisation of my particular course. Several lecturers were very good, but some would benefit from teaching training. 

The course has much potential, and would do more justice to students if :
1. Communication between lecturers was improved (to ensure building of knowledge, not duplication)
2. Assignments should build several skills (i.e. not only looking at MDGs  and writing a plan for interventions. Students would benefit from learning how to write reviews, research proposals, monitoring and evaluation plans, research proposals, budgets and other essential global health skills. By clearly communicating between course leaders/ coordinators and planners all of these important skills will be fostered during the course)
3. Examinations included more questions (perhaps also with option of questions to complete)

I will recommend KI as an institution for learning and research collaboration due to my experience of respected researchers committed to working with global partners to develop meaningful solutions. 

Language and Culture

Yes, KI provided a short Swedish course. It was wonderful to have this opportunity, however the teacher was not particularly good. I was very glad to have the opportunity to learn Swedish while at KI.

Studies in general

The Swedish study environment was good. However, I was dissappointed by the poor overall organisation of the course. There was poor communication between course lecturers, coordinators and students. Often the course content was duplicated and most of the assignments used the same strategy and covered similar topics - there are so many interesting ways to build the skills of students, in a way which will build practical work skills  - this could be improved. 

There were a few exceptional lecturers, and the overall standard was good. This is similar to the quality of teaching in my home institution. I feel that all institutions should place greater emphasis on building the skills of lecturers; improving communication; equip students with practical real world skills; ensure assignments (and courses) are complimentary and build on each other, thus maximising the outcomes of post graduate study.

The existence of research groups in KI is wonderful. The groups represent a wide varierty of resaerchers, working in different contexts, who  are ready to engage in new ideas and to foster new collaborations. This has been the best part of my exchange. I have developed a professional relationship with researchers here and am committed to invest efforts to build these relationships.  
Jag förbereder en patient för tillverkning av inlägg.