Nursing arkistot - Metropolia Exchange

Tag: Nursing

Incoming Student Story: Assumpta Siamangaba from Zambia

13.3.2023

“My home university Lusaka College of Nursing and Midwifery and Metropolia have an agreement for an exchange programme. Students are selected based on the results and grades and I was very excited that I was one of the selected students. I had never flown in my life so traveling to Finland was very exciting. I didn’t know much about Finland beforehand but a friend of mine who had been in Finland before told me a lot of different things. Before arriving to Finland, I figured out what the time difference is and where Finland is located. I knew it’s going to be very cold and that I should prepare for that. I studied in the field of Health Care and Social Sciences and took courses from the degree programme of nursing at Metropolia. One of the courses I chose was Gerontological Nursing which was a good experience as back home we don’t learn so much about gerontology. In the courses we did simulations where we got to practice procedures in different situations. You learn a lot during the simulations and observing them! Everything related to the studies was clearly organized in the intranet OMA. There I was able to see what I’m supposed to do for my assignments, what to do before classes and all the presentations. Myllypuro campus is very big and the labs have a lot of equipment. I ate lunch in the student restaurant and tasted different kinds of food. In the beginning it was difficult because there were a lot of different apps to use for different things but I managed! In my free-time I went outside to walk. I also did trips to Porvoo and Joensuu. In Joensuu I got to try ice swimming and skiing. It has been amazing to see a lot of snow, this has been the first time for me seeing it. My tutor was very helpful, he also showed me a second-hand store where I could get more warm clothes. It gets dark here very early in the winter so vitamin D is important, in Zambia it’s not necessary. I would advise the future exchange students to be active: take part in class activities and in-school program. It will help to interact and to make friends and to feel like you belong.”

15.9.2022

Metropolia Exchange Bloggers

Mayamiko Kasonda did her exchange semester in Metropolia in Spring semester 2022 in the field of Health Care and Social Sciences. She is studying nursing in Daeyang University in her home country Malawi. Mayamiko’s university has an agreement with Metropolia within which students are chosen to come to Metropolia for an exchange period. Mayamiko was hoping she would be selected and when she got the information she was excited about being able to make her dream come true. Study experience at Metropolia Mayamiko loves learning and describes studying in Metropolia as fun. Nursing studies in Metropolia consisted of theory and lab classes. Theory classes in Metropolia were more interactive than Mayamiko was used to. Lab classes were organized during the exchange on multiple different topics. Mayamiko got to practice emergency care, incubation, CPR and pediatric nursing, to name a few. Teachers have been very encouraging and guiding students throughout the courses. Being punctual is important in Finland and Mayamiko has also noticed this: “I like how people stick to time. Back home classes were extended easily and this hinders other plans”. Workload in Metropolia has been manageable, although assignments have been hard. Despite of this there has been more free time here than back at the home university. Best thing at Metropolia was interaction with other exchange students as well as Finnish students. Free-time and Finnish Experience Mayamiko arrived to Finland in March when it was still winter: “Weather was challenging at first, when we got to Finland there was still some snow. With time I got used to it and was really nice to see snow!”. Despite the weather and staying warm indoors, Mayamiko was visiting places on the Helsinki Metropolitan area: “The HSL public transportation card allows to travel around, that was really good”. Mayamiko visited Suomenlinna Fortress Island, Café Regatta and Helsinki Central Library Oodi, to name a few. Mayamiko also applied for a tutor at Metropolia, who was helping her especially in the beginning by guiding her to the apartment and introducing to others. Biggest challenge during Mayamiko’s exchange was the language. She picked up some words but that was not enough for a conversation. Finnish people are known for good knowledge of English and this was also helping Mayamiko during her stay a lot. She also learned to interact with people in a diverse way and to understand differences. Tips from Mayamiko: Be open-minded to others Be open to learning new things Have fun!