Bangladesh’s Progress Highlighted in Medical Publication

The BMJ, an international medical journal, recently published an article entitled, “Why has Bangladesh done so well?”  In the article, Richard Smith, the chair of the Board of Trustees of icddr,b (formerly known as the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh) discusses the elements that may have helped improve the standard of living in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has had a tumultous past, rife with episodes of civil unrest, war and famine, with each event resulting high mortality rates.  However, it has now become one of the few low income countries to achieve the Millenium Development Goals: life expectancy has increased from 50 to 70+, child deaths under 5 years have dropped from 25% to 4%, and maternal mortality has fallen from 700 per 100 000 to 150.  Almost all children go to school, and the literacy rate of ~67% is equal among both males and females.

The author discusses several relevant cases of health improvements in Bangladesh, exploring why the country has made such major strides in its development. For instance, Richard Smith explains the role of factors such as education, research, cultural sensitivity, social science and female empowerment in the usage of oral re-hydration treatment (ORT) to treat roughly 80% of cases of childhood diarrhea, the highest rate in the world.  Lessons such as these has helped Bangladesh work towards becoming a middle-income country within a decade.  Despite all of the progress, there are still obstacles that Bangladesh has yet to overcome; among the issues are a moderately high maternal mortality rate, security, child marriage and loss of land due to climate change.

For more details and an in-depth analysis, please read the blog post on BMJ.com.

Project Lauded for Innovative Instruction

Since it’s inception, the Bangladesh Health Project has relied on the generosity of overseas volunteer faculty who have taught students, developed courses and mentored local faculty.  Many of the volunteers originally visited IUBAT as nursing students themselves, through the arrangements that their own school had with the Project.  Some students came solo, others in groups with an instructor.

One such academic partnership was with the University of Vermont (UVM) through Professor Rycki Maltby. The relationship between the two institutions was featured in the book, Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing and Related Health Professions by authors Martha Bradshaw and Arlene Lowenstein. The immersion course, offered to senior nursing students, was highlighted as a unique learning experience and noteworthy for instructors as a teaching example. IUBAT and the Bangladesh Health Project welcome future partnerships with academic institutions and any students that may have an interest in getting involved.

The Bangladesh Health Project has accommodated many volunteers in our guest house.  We are grateful for volunteer faculty, as we could not have succeeded without their assistance in building the scholastic foundation of the Project.  For pictures of the guest house, please check out our Flickr page.

Bangladesh Health Project Plans for 2017

As the Bangladesh Health Project (BHP) progresses, we focus on new priorities and needs. With IUBAT alumni now taking more senior roles as nurse educators and managers, our volunteers offer more mentoring and coaching and less student teaching. Looking ahead, these are our objectives:

1. Provide mentoring support for faculty of IUBAT College of Nursing

BHP has completed mentorship and training of several cohorts of BSN students.  Our next goal is to strengthen nursing faculty capacity.  Through phone contact, e-mail and visiting faculty volunteers, we will assist with program development, classroom teaching, clinical supervision and student evaluation. As feasible, we will continue to supply textbooks and teaching materials. We will provide demonstration lectures for IUBAT nursing students and for staff at our teaching hospital sites.

2. Support IUBAT graduates in their professional development

In recent years, we have supported IUBAT alumni working in hospitals, colleges and NGOs with mentorship for issues related to advanced education, nursing administration and access to technical information. We will continue supporting our graduates as they advance in their careers and undertake leadership roles.

3. Develop resources to promote nurse education in Bangladesh

We will continue to offer textbooks to local nursing colleges, ideally establishing a central library for advanced materials, to be used by faculty and senior hospital staff. We will continue developing our Open Education Resource, an open-source collection of BSN curriculum materials for faculty to use in lesson preparation.

4. Build relationships with colleges and NGOs to improve health services in Bangladesh

We have good relationships with many health care organizations; some are practicum or internship sites for IUBAT, others offer good-quality education or health care services. Most are in Dhaka, while a few are in outlying areas. We will support these agencies as requested, with consultation and educational materials.

5. Support research projects on quality of health education and health services

We will arrange student internships and projects to link local and global researchers. We have the potential to support some applied research projects on quality of health services, particularly for training and mentor-ship in research.

We continue to welcome volunteers, either working from home, or at our guest-house in Dhaka. Please contact us about current opportunities.