The purpose of the trip was to maintain and deepen relationships with the University of Jordan in Amman. The university is a strategic partner and very active in terms of student exchanges within the medical programme.
"However, relations, and above all contact channels, need to be secured at regular intervals. We also wanted to resume our previous very successful collaborations in healthcare and rehabilitation education, which had been dormant after the pandemic," says Teresa Svarvell, Head of the International Office at the Faculty, whose role was to plan the trip, keep the delegation together, ensure that the delegation got in touch with the right people and reached some form of agreement regarding continued collaborations.
The group also traveled to visit the newly established medical university Aqaba Medical Sciences University (AMSU) in southern Jordan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a starting point for further collaborations.
Contacts for life
Internationalisation is a fundamental skill in today's world, says Teresa Svarvell.
"Students who spend part of their studies abroad gain a broader understanding of global issues and different cultures. They develop important skills such as intercultural competence, improve their language skills and make contacts for life.
The Swedish Embassy in Amman has a habit of meeting our students and drinking coffee with them, which shows that exchange studies are an important part of the work with international relations on several levels".
Why a cooperation with Jordan?
"Jordan is a well-functioning country in an exciting region with a different culture. Our students are offered hands-on clinical practice in several different areas, they are very well taken care of and come home with fantastic impressions and experiences. After this trip, it is very easy to understand why Jordan is such a popular destination".
The goal of the trip was to deepen relations and move forward in the cooperation discussions.
"We achieved the goals by a wide margin when we came home with a signed MoU with AMSU, and draft agreements with both the School of Nursing and the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Jordan, with clear plans for the way forward. We made contacts at several different levels, had the chance to visit the students' clinical environments and ask questions to all key people".
One of the highlights of the trip was when an MoU with Aqaba Medical Sciences University was signed.
"It was a formal ceremony where all important functions at the university were invited, together with the Swedish Embassy, who travelled from Amman to Aqaba to participate. The event was filmed and broadcast on Jordanian TV, which gave a very positive image of Lund University and Sweden".
According to Teresa Svarvell, first and foremost, students in undergraduate education benefit from the collaboration.
Discussed opportunities
"We can continue to send medical students on a large scale and will resume exchanges for the health care and rehabilitation program. Some of the programs start immediately. We have also discussed opportunities for doctoral education and teacher exchanges, and invited our colleagues in Jordan to come and visit us in Lund as soon as possible to meet all the colleagues who could not be part of our trip. Although the goal of the journey has been fulfilled, the work has only just begun and we are all very much looking forward to the future".
The Faculty's delegation in Jordan consisted of representatives from the Faculty management (David Gisselsson Nord, vice-dean for internationalisation), the professions that were most relevant for collaboration, i.e. the medical programme (Ligita Jokubkiene), the nursing programmes (Helena Tern) and the occupational therapy programme (Lisa Ekstam) as well as the International Officeon (Teresa Svarvell, international manager).
Photos: Teresa Svarvell.