Passing of Dr ASA Masud

IUBAT College of Nursing Coordinator Shuvashish Das Bala has shared news of the recent death of former CoN Coordinator, Prof. Dr. ASA Masud. Visiting faculty volunteers and students will remember his stewardship of the fledgling College from 2014 to 2018. Prior to IUBAT, most of Dr. Masud’s career was in humanitarian work at World Vision, Bangladesh. He brought that experience to the College of Nursing where he taught Family Planning and Reproductive Health as well as representing the College at academic and health sector meetings. Also, at IUBAT, he developed the university’s first health insurance scheme which now serves over 10,000 students.

BHP Director, Prof. John Richards, recalls, “Over many shared cups of tea at the campus café, I remember well Dr. Masud’s wonderful sense of humour.” Director Alex Berland adds, “In those early years, it was extremely difficult to recruit senior local nurses to teach in the private sector so medical doctors filled an important teaching role. Dr. Masud was one of the rare Bangladeshi physicians who respected and valued the unique knowledge base of the nursing profession. His supportive attitude and knowledge of local context helped tremendously in creating a rich learning experience for our students. We are grateful for his contributions to building the IUBAT College of Nursing.”

English language for Bangladeshi nurses

The Bangladesh Health Project initially focused on developing the nursing college at IUBAT – the International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology, an English-medium university in Dhaka. Due to a lack of local faculty, international volunteers taught the BSN students; many brought donated textbooks because there were few nursing texts in Bangla let alone English. For the nursing students, the huge effort to master a foreign language was rewarded with access to vast resources for life-long professional development. Many hospitals and other employers also relied on English because of their international staff.

Recently IUBAT grad Mohammed Ali joined Oxford University for post-graduate studies. He writes, “I learned that my new classmates from non-English speaking countries had to achieve high scores on the IELTS exam to get into Oxford. However, I have been exempted from the English language test following assessment of my skills. I am truly grateful to the visiting teachers from Canada, the USA, UK, and Australia who provided me with an excellent foundation in the English language.”

Reducing the impact of nurse emigration

photo credit: World Health Organization

Recently The Guardian published a story titled, “‘If we leave, Nepal will suffer’: embattled hospitals fear impact of UK job offers.” IUBAT graduate Sailesh Bhandari confirms this from Kathmandu, where he works for the NGO, Unity in Health Nepal, as a mental health trainer. “It's the current picture of Nepal's health care system and the potential risk and crisis. We work with nurses and health care staff from different hospitals and rural communities. We commonly find during our two or three year projects that the majority of the staff will either be gone or replaced. It has always been a tremendous challenge.”

The WHO Code of Practice on International Recruitment establishes principles for ethical recruitment. However, COVID-19 has resulted in reduced health workforce availability and greater pressures due to infections and deaths, stress, burnout and mental health issues. The 2014 BHP report, Advancing Nurse Education in Bangladesh includes recommendations to reduce the hazards of an export-based approach to nurse education, using the Philippines as an example.