Pictured: Front row (l-r) Anne-Catherine Lyon, state councillor/minister for education, youth, and culture, state of Vaud and Cutberto Garza, provost and dean of faculties, Boston College

Back row (l-r) Biagio Tedesco, director, international department for education, youth, and culture, state of Vaud; Chantal Ostorero, general director, DGES, Board of Higher Education, state of Vaud; Susan Gennaro, dean, William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College; and Patricia De Leeuw, vice provost for faculties, Boston College

As part of an ongoing relationship between the Connell School of Nursing and Switzerland's University of Applied Sciences, opportunities for BC students have continued to arise.

In the Summer of 2010, 6 undergraduate nursing students Hannah Binder, Hilary Cloonan, Sarah Connor, Sabianca Delva, Allison Sandler and Kimberly Pomerleau, along with Associate Professor Ellen Mahoney and Clinical Assistant Professor Colleen Simonelli, were invited to participate in a Summer University program held in Lausanne, Switzerland. The program brought together nursing faculty and students from Switzerland, India, Singapore as well as California and Boston College representing the United States, to discuss issues such as healthcare politics and policies, caring for an aging population, dying with dignity and autonomy, and adolescent mental health issues. Students were also exposed to the Swiss culture through participation in local activities and events like the Montreux Jazz Festival, Olympic Museum and Old City tours in addition to time spent in the classroom.

Then in November of 2010 an official Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Cutberto Garza, provost and dean of faculties at Boston College, and Anne-Catherine Lyon, state councilor/minister for education, youth, and culture, Vaud canton, formalized cooperation in academic exchanges, program development, and research while establishing official guiding terms and principles of collaboration between the two institutions.

As a result of this effort, the Connell School of Nursing hosted the 2012 Summer program, with colleagues from Switzerland who joined our faculty and staff in a month long immersion course focusing on Healthcare quality and safety, examining Global Ethical perspectives, exploring issues of violence around the world, and comparing different country’s approach to end of life care across the lifespan. This widely successful program was featured in the Fall 2012 Voice Magazine. Read more »

A global health course open to Boston College students will be offered in Switzerland in the summer of 2013. Contact Associate Dean of Undergraduate Program Cathy Read for more information.