We need to teach the man to teach other men to fish

We visit the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Eastern International University. The refrain from the hospital administrators on Thursday is echoed here: We have to educate our work force. The hospitals want more BSN and MS nurses, physical therapists, administrators. The universities need masters and doctorates for their faculty. Their buildings are outpacing their workforce, and applications for existing educational spots far exceed capacity.

The EIU is an interesting concept. A huge corporation -- Becamax, a holding company for 31 different entities -- is building a town for its workforce. Called "The New City" they have built a brand new town, a 1000 bed hospital to take care of the folks that work there, and a university to educate its workforce. They have 140 new nursing students and only 6 faculty. We focus on supporting faculty development; they want us to send teachers. We need to come up with something in between.

It is of note that the standard administrative structure in their healthcare colleges is that the Dean is a physician. It is the credential required by the ministry of education, even if it is solely a school of nursing. It does make conversations about curriculum challenging and, sometimes, at odds with what we believe about the professions we represent.

I have no answers for any of them. Can we teach their classes? Of course not; even if we had capacity, that is not the Jesuit way. We don't just teach the man to fish; we teach the man to teach other men to fish. But they clearly need support in nontraditional ways; creativity is called for. There is huge opportunity here to make a real difference. I'm just not sure how. This will require substantial reflection and discernment -- something I have to work at. I wish they would just let me count something. Stay tuned.