Dean Emami recently returned from a trip to multiple countries in East Asia, focused on strengthening our relationships and visibility with major universities and nursing schools.
Dean Emami was featured as a keynote speaker in four international and global health related conferences in mainland China, South Korea, and Taiwan. At each of her destinations, YSN partnered with the Yale Alumni Association and the Yale alumni clubs, which hosted Dean Emami for short talks and lively conversations. There were three Yale club evening events in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing.
During her time in China, the dean had an opportunity to speak about the Yale School of Nursing’s priorities at the Yale Center Beijing. She also had strategic partnership meetings to steward and expand current student and faculty exchanges and collaborations in these countries. Overall, her meetings were part of strategic efforts to enhance the Yale School of Nursing’s global presence, create research and educational opportunities for faculty and students while deepening our global impact and leadership in nursing education.
Dean Emami’s first stop was the Yonsei University College of Nursing in Seoul, South Korea (YUCON). This institution is notable for having produced the first professional nurses in Korea, and its stated mission is to “lead the way toward a healthier world through excellence and innovation in education, research, and global leadership.” YUCON maintains global relationships and encourages its students to take part in exchanges, conferences, and other activities that expand their knowledge of healthcare around the world. As a result of the meetings at YUCON, YSN is in the process of launching a student exchange program that will bring students from YSN’s Global Health concentration to Seoul and with YSN hosting YUCON students at Yale next year.
There were also mutual interests in coming together on planetary health initiatives. YSN’s Office of Planetary Health and Global Engagement is working with YUCON to ensure they are a part of a newly launched consortium (BRIDGE) that focuses on planetary health. BRIDGE just hosted its first virtual conference and is in the process of launching a virtual event series featuring our global partners. Please be on the lookout for further information about programming and activities.
During Dean Emami’s time at the Yale Center Beijing, she delivered a speech on “Empowering Nurses as Global Health Leaders.” She spoke about her view of how wellness will become a focal point of healthcare going forward, and discussed how it is essential that nurses have a leadership role in research and public health efforts directed at fostering wellness.
“Using modern digital tools, prevention education delivered by nurses can reach entire villages, towns, cities, regions, and countries at little or no cost,” said Dean Emami. “Prevention is far easier to distribute equitably than clinical care, and it far less costly.
“We also need to recognize that primary care encompasses research. We think of healthcare research as being a person in a lab trying to understand the biology of an illness, and it is that. But we need to define healthcare research as including the field of healthcare communications. We need to have nurse-researchers working to achieve a better understanding of the optimal ways to communicate and motivate.”
Dean Emami spent a few days visiting one of Yale’s and Yale School of Nursing’s longstanding partners in Changsha, Central South University. After delivering a keynote address for an international conference, “Empowering Nurses to Create Global Wellness,” Dean Emami visited the Central South University School of Nursing and Public Health, toured the Museum of Xiangya School of Nursing, and met with the school’s leadership team to learn more about Yale’s historical ties in Changsha and opportunities for continued collaboration.
Dean Emami’s last stop in mainland China was in Chengdu, where she was a keynote speaker at the West China International Nursing Conference, with hundreds of attendees. Her remarks on how to empower nurses so they can be active participants in creating global wellness was met with an enthusiastic response.
Dean Emami then traveled to Hong Kong to meet with colleagues at Hong Kong University for meetings to discuss the importance of nursing leadership, and of taking an interdisciplinary approach that involves and integrates all healthcare professionals. Faculty and administrators from Hong Kong University School of Nursing and School of Public Health joined for a large meeting that included an informative exchange of ideas about nursing education, wellness, and ways in which global nursing educational institutions can best collaborate and cooperate to advance wellness and the nursing profession.
After a visit to the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital that include Yale School of Public Health alumnus Dr. Simon Tang, Dean Emami visited a number of other facilities and met with their leaders. YSN will host in-person visits by colleagues from HKU, providing an opportunity for YSN faculty and students to meet and exchange ideas about future collaborations. The first visit will take place in November and will feature Professor Doris Yu, Chair of Research at HKU. The events with Professor Yu is being organized by YSN’s Office of Research and Professor Xuehong Zhang. Please be on the lookout for more information.
Dean Emami’s final stop during her travels to East Asia was Taiwan, where she took part in a celebratory event marking the 70th anniversary of the National Taiwan University’s (NTU) School of Nursing. NTU’s School of Nursing’s current dean, Cheryl Chen, is an active YSN alumna. Dean Chen organized Dean Emami’s visit in Taiwan, including meetings with the NTU president and several hospitals’ superintendents, one of whom is also a Yale alumna. Dean Emami was featured as a keynote for NTU’s 70th year conference, “Nursing Tomorrow—Global Partnership to Better Care.” YSN’s Office of Planetary Health and Global Engagement Director, Dr. Asia Neupane was also present and delivered a short presentation on planetary health and nursing.
“The trip was an important one for a number of reasons,” said Dean Emami. “It strengthened our relationships with major institutions in each country I visited, it led to very positive discussions about future collaborations on research and educational projects, and it raised awareness of YSN as a partner in future endeavors.
“Global leadership requires global outreach,” said the dean. “It is essential that we be proactive in establishing and sustaining relationships that will yield future opportunities for our students and faculty, while encouraging an exchange of people and ideas.”