Collaborations
The Greek Connection: Educational Collaboration with Upper Midwest Association of International Education, U.S.A.
Since 2005, the Clinic of Social and Family Medicine (CSFM) has collaborated with a consortium of educational institutes from the U.S.A. (Upper Midwest Association of International Education). This longstanding collaboration aims to exchange views and experiences on cultural issues of health, illness, healthcare and welfare systems as well as to expose health scientists in various transcultural theories.
In the context of the above collaboration, an educational visit from a group of U.S. undergraduate students, majoring mostly in health-related disciplines, takes place annually at the University of Crete campus. (see attached Itinerary_2013)
This visit is part of the course “The Greek Connection: Embracing intercultural care in ancient and modern Greece” developed by Professor Muriel Larson, an emeritus nursing faculty from Augustana College, South Dakota. [http://umaie.org/?s=Greek+connection]
The Cretan Connection was initiated in January 2005 and since then the program has included the 7th Health Region and selected rural primary care units as partners. Locally, the program is coordinated by Dr. Ada Markaki, Instructor at the Dept. of Social Medicine and Researcher at CSFM. The last day of the program includes a half-day workshop along with US student group presentations, open to all University of Crete School of Medicine students, faculty and staff who wish to attend. (see attached Workshop_2013)
Until today, the Greek Connection has been attended by approximately 200 undergraduate US students, majoring in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, rehabilitation, education and economics. Enrolled students travel throughout Greece for three weeks, visiting Athens, Sterea Ellada, the Peloponese and Crete. While in Crete, the focus is on primary health care and how local needs, socio-demographic characteristics and cultural identity influence the development and provision of health care services.
