By Sara Pisoni
CHS Contributor

Throughout the semester, students in Dr. Karen Skaff’s Human Health Sciences 356 class have had the unique opportunity to learn about healthcare in countries across the world. From Uganda and Greece to Taiwan and Denmark, these students have worked together to become experts on one country, and then share that with the class.

Instead of lecturing every week with traditional PowerPoints, Skaff, an RDH, PhD and a professor in Human Health Sciences, took a different approach to the learning and teaching of the class. She wanted the students to become the teachers. So, students divided up into 28 groups of five to six and worked together to create a short video about the healthcare system of the country they chose.

Sophomore HHS student Evelyn Anderson said this has been one of her favorite classes this semester because of its unique course format.

“The class is so much more engaging because of the short video presentations, and I feel like I pay attention and learn so much in a short amount of time,” she said.

Some groups have utilized their creativity in coming up with unique ways to present their project. Each group was encouraged to use the Media Depot, an on-campus resource for technology, software and video equipment support. This allowed students to show a different side of themselves — something their professors and peers normally don’t see.

“I have heard about countries all across the world — some that I couldn’t have pointed to on a map, but now are on my bucket list to visit!” said senior HHS student Emily O’Dell. During the past four years she has learned a lot about healthcare in the U.S., but this class has also been a great opportunity to learn about what is going on around the world, and how students can take lessons from other countries to continue improving ours.

Skaff said she had to be realistic in her expectations for a one-credit hour course with 140 students enrolled that embraced the University’s challenge to create opportunities that measured learning beyond the traditional test taking of midterms and finals.

“I believe that students need to also learn ways of digital communication and working together in interdisciplinary groups — and to use University resources such as the Media Depot to produce a high-quality, brief video product in a short amount of time,” she said.  

The video project was designed to connect students to one another and to others as they broadened their perspectives to better understand healthcare around the world. “As future healthcare providers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and various therapy occupations, these students need to understand the impact of various cultures on health and health care policies and practices globally which will translate to their patients in America,” she said. 

The class then viewed everyone’s videos, with photographs and interviews from 28 countries explaining different healthcare delivery systems, illustrating traditional and non-traditional treatments, funding mechanisms, training of healthcare professionals and lifestyle influences on their life expectancy and childhood mortality rates, as well as favorite foods, music and traditions.

“The students’ critical reflections on the videos demonstrated an appreciation for the values of a country and its impact on health,” Skaff said. For example, the class:

• Used terms like ‘healthcare as a right for all citizens,’ as opposed to a ‘privilege for some.’
• Recognized the influences of poverty, healthcare disparities and lack of access to healthcare in different regions of the world.
• Captured the beauty of each country and its people, “as well as the hard reality that most countries we studied experienced the same key health problems as in America – heart disease, cancers, diabetes and childhood obesity even though, universal care was provided,” Skaff said.