The Durban University of Technology (DUT) always aims to ensure that students and staff alike are given opportunities to do research and collaborate at an international level. Two DUT staff members Elliot Makhathini and Mirriam Siluma, were privileged to be given the chance to travel to the State University of New York (SUNY) last December (2018), to visit the Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster and meet nursing Professors and students who will be travelling to South Africa in March 2019.

Makhathini, a clinical instructor for undergraduate students at the Department of Nursing, and Siluma, a lecturer at the Community Health Studies in the Child and Youth Care programme, both went overseas to gain knowledge and skills that will enhance collaborative online international learning between DUT and the US University.

For Siluma, she said that her role was to represent the Department of Community Health Studies and the Child and Youth Care programme so that it could benefit from the COIL initiative, and an opportunity to be an important partner in the Internationalisation of the curriculum at DUT.

Siluma said her trip had allowed her to learn so much ‘hands-on’ experience and to prepare her faculty for the development and design of a COIL project.

Makhathini’s area of research involves collaboration between indigenous healers and biomedical health practitioners in the health sector. He added that his trip enabled him to observe the American Western health care with its methods and implements.

“The trip to SUNY Ulster has been a success on many levels. I was able to meet local healers in the USA and work with SUNY Ulster Nursing Professor Dr Ellen Tangney, Dave Scarpino, CEO and Head of Health Alliance, Professor Glenda B Kelman of Sage College in Albany City, and Professor Roldan, to name but a few. I also learnt very useful information regarding the process of quantitative data analysis. For me, this is a golden opportunity for scaling up networking between DUT’s Department of Nursing and other Nursing Institutions abroad. We can establish international research collaboration and begin to address the challenges faced by our disadvantaged communities. One of my roles in the DUT Department of Nursing is to promote internationalisation and the COIL project at Indumiso Campus which forms part of DUT’s strategic plan. I am excited by the fact that I can share this information with our COIL coordinator, Dr PM Orton and Dr D Sokhela,” he said excitedly.

Makhathini also enjoyed learning about the SUNY Ulster simulation laboratory where nursing students are taught practically what they have learnt in class. This was truly a learning experience for him. “Contrary to what I observed in SUNY Ulster, our approach in the clinical skills laboratory, where we demonstrated clinical skills to our learners, seems to be limited when it comes to the creation of a conducive learning environment for students. I think we can improve our approach by adopting SUNY Ulster’s approach despite the fact that we do not have the simulation equipment,” he stressed.

He also added that he was very thrilled to have met four healers who practiced complementary medicine. Their trip to the USA was a huge success.

Pictured: Elliot Makhathini in Rosendale with local healer Kate Anjahlia Loye (middle) and Hope Windle.

Waheeda Peters