The title of our post is the University of Botswana's motto. This morning we attended a community nursing class at the main campus. The university has four campuses; two in Gaborone and one each in Maun and Francistown. This university was established in 1982 and provides education to approximately 15,000 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students. Of the 15,000 undergraduates 8,500 are female and 6,500 male. The majority of students live on campus in residence halls similar to undergraduate housing at UPenn but many also live with their families in Gaborone. The students have access to a free medical clinic, counseling services, and are free to take advantage of the school’s swimming pool, athletic courts and fields, and extra-curricular activities similar to ones found at university and colleges in the United States. The University of Botswana or “UB” is a public university and the majority of students receive funding from the Botswana government to pursue the degree they desire. To be considered for admission students must meet program requirements and must have demonstrated high academic ability and achievement. Students wishing to pursue nursing at UB apply to the program when they apply to the university just as those who begin the nursing program at Penn as undergraduates. The program is four years in length and students graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing, the same degree each of us will graduate with this December! UB also offers opportunities for students to pursue a master’s degree in nursing as well as programs for bachelor’s completion for those who already have a diploma in nursing. UB’s nursing students take their community nursing course in the first semester of their 3rd year as opposed to our curriculum which places the community nursing course in the first semester of our 4th year.
The nursing community within the University of Botswana had many similarities to our community at Penn. There was the typical buzz that occurs on the first day of class when students are greeting each other again after a semester break. As class began, the professor had everyone introduce themselves and we were given a warm welcome from the UB community. Other similarities we noted were the use of PowerPoint for lecture media, consequent IT troubles associated with the use of PowerPoint, and the gasps from the students when the price of the book was discussed.
One of the biggest differences was the presence of men in the class! Of the 80 students, 35 were men (38% of the class). Another significant difference was the lack of technology used in the classroom. Aside from the computer and projector for the PowerPoint, there were no laptops or electronics—students use notebooks and nothing else was out on the wooden desks. PowerPoint lectures are not put online and printing is limited. The professor prints the course outline and copies it for the students, but after that, notes and lecture materials are the student’s individual responsibility to maintain. Sources for papers are not expected to come from online resources, but mostly from texts and library journals.
Overall it was a great day getting to know the nursing students at UB! We felt comfortable participating in the class discussion, were warmly greeted by the students and look forward to working with them at their clinical sites in the coming weeks.
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