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| Training Qualified Nurses: PUC Lends
a Hand in Sri Lanka
by Lainey S. Cronk
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 With
flag raising, lamp lighting, and drum beating, the American College
of Health Sciences in Sri Lanka celebrated its grand opening on
January 12, 2003. Assorted prominent personages were present, including
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health. Dr. Julia Pearce, chair of
the Department of Nursing at Pacific Union College, was a guest
of honor and a speaker at the opening.
Dr. Pearce traveled 22 hours from California to Sri Lanka to take
part in the new school’s ceremony, taking with her a gift
of 200 pounds of books which she and other PUC faculty and staff
donated. She spent a week sharing with the administration about
teaching methods and expectations at American colleges. They also
discussed what it would take for the students to earn their associate’s
degrees in Sri Lanka and then transfer to PUC to earn their bachelor’s
degrees.
The American College of Health Sciences is not a part of the Adventist
educational system, but it has many connections. The founding doctor
graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The school’s
faculty includes a nurse who graduated from Walla Walla College
and is married to a man working for Global Mission in Sri Lanka.
 Additionally,
before opening, the American College of Health Sciences was looking
for an American college curriculum to use for their students. PUC
sent some information and material which met with the approval of
the administration at the new school. So for over a year PUC, and
Dr. Pearce in particular, has been working with the new school,
supplying a plenitude of curricula material and practical advice.
Dr. Pearce notes that the administration of the American College
of Health Sciences is “very results-oriented.” One of
their main objectives is to give the nursing students an education
sufficient to qualify them for work in the United Kingdom, the Middle
East, and the United States. Dr. Pearce says that they also “want
to know what we expect” – and will do whatever they
can to meet those expectations.
There are currently 23 male and female students at the new school,
studying under English instructors, science teachers from the medical
university, and the nursing faculty. The school was founded by a
doctor who recognized the great need for such a school in a country
where medical care and resources are limited and nursing education
is inadequate. There is no board of registered nursing in Sri Lanka,
and the tiny, 30-bed Adventist hospital that Dr. Pearce visited
said they “have difficulty getting qualified nurses.”
PUC will continue to provide consultation and support to the American
College of Health Sciences, acknowledging that this ministry is
much needed there. In addition, Dr. Pearce hopes that some members
of the PUC nursing faculty can spend a week teaching the nursing
students in Sri Lanka. “Our material is a tremendous help
to them,” she explains. “We can be an incredible influence
and role model.”
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