Master's In International Health

Our first week began at 9:00 am sharp on September 3, 2012. There were officially supposed to be 31 of us although there are a couple of people who haven't shown and our first group assignment has 4 groups of 5 and 2 groups of 4 (thus 28 people). I'd say the class is half Swedes although many of these people are not originally from Sweden but have been here for periods ranging from a few years to a couple of decades. As is common in post-secondary education women predominate although this class seems rather extreme with only three guys. The folks who are not from Sweden are from all over the world - Lithuania, Roumania, Nepal, Indonesia, Finland, Germany and elsewhere. A large number of the students are nurses by training/education and we have one physician - a woman of about my age from Libya.

Our first course, Global Health, which will continue until the end of November, is being held in the International Maternal and Child Health centre which is located in an office building next to a department store in 'downtown' Uppsala. It's a 23-minute walk from home and very pleasant right now although I doubt it will be so much fun when there is slush and snow on the ground and the inevitable icy patches. We have a bright and airy classroom on the fourth floor and a very well-equipped (especially in Canadian terms) 'student kitchen' with three half-sized fridges, four (yes, FOUR!) microwaves, a dishwasher, crockery and cutlery, two kettles and a coffee maker. And lest you think it is only so lavishly stocked because of the staff and professors also at the centre I must mention that they have their own kitchen.

I have been very impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication of my classmates. Most are there early and there is none of the annoying background chit-chatting which used to make me crazy in undergrad courses at UVic. Questions and discussions are thoughtful and show a deep level of not just education but life experience as well as a wealth of international experience gained from living, working, volunteering and traveling around the world. It is going to be a great pleasure learning with and from this diverse group and I know that even if I don't have five decades left to make a contribution to the improvement of global health many of my classmates do and most certainly will!

Part of our classroom - there are another set of long tables to the left where the other half of the class members sit

Right hand side of kitchen

Left hand side of kitchen