Fund for Teachers | My Passport

Erica Hand

Huntsville High School, Huntsville AL

Explore healthcare models in France, Italy, England and Germany to document how their histories and cultures influence culturally-sensitive patient care in an effort to expose health science students to diverse care methods and to prepare them to work successfully in a multicultural environment post-graduation.

Where I've Been

  • Paris, France
  • Hamburg, Germany
  • Rome, Italy
  • London, United Kingdom

My Fellowship in Images

While in London we toured the Florence Nightingale museum. The museum featured an amazing interactive experience highlighting Florence's accomplishments in medicine and her personal convictions that lead her to become the icon she is today.
The Old Operating Theatre Museum (London) This is the oldest operating theatre in Europe 1822. This museum offered a narrated tour using an app. We were able to have an authentic experience laying on the surgery table with props.
The American Hospital in Paris. This hospital has English speaking staff and is accredited by Joint Commission. All hospitals in America are accredited by Joint Commission but this is the only hospital in Europe accredited.
The Museum of Medical History in Paris (Musee dHistoire de la Medecine Odeon) This was an amazing collection of medical instruments, anatomy models and paintings of famous surgeons housed on the campus of College de Chirurgie meaning surgery school.
Meeting with Tanja Dittrich a physical therapist in Germany. We had a traditional German Breakfast in her home. We discussed the German healthcare system.
The Fischmarket in Hamburg Germany. We accompanied the Dittrich family to a local open air Sunday market. This market offered fresh fruit, vegetables and fish. They purchased a weeks worth of veggies and fruit for 4 people for about $20.

Igniting Your Personal and Professional Growth

Describe one or two, specific learning experiences from your fellowship. In words, show us this experience and explain why it was powerful.

We entered the Florence Nightengale museum at the perfect time to join a group of students on a field trip. We were met by an educator from the museum dressed as Florence. She proceeded to do a monologue performance about the life of Florence Nightengale. It was an amazing performance that was informative, engaging and interactive. Watching her I realized the life story is very important to understand the motivations and character of historical figures. I reflected on my own experience as a RN

What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn professionally?

I learned that stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing other cultures was not only a great way for me to learn about the lifestyles and connect with diverse people. I had the opportunity to evaluate and make positive changes to my own lifestyle related to energy conservation, physical activity and diet modifications. Professionally I recaptured my enthusiasm for teaching and nursing while connecting with healthcare professionals across Europe and experiencing the history of healthcare.

What were some unplanned or unexpected experiences or outcomes of your fellowship? Or, how did the fellowship you crafted differ from the actual learning experience?

We had situations where museum websites had out of date information. For example we walked 2.3 miles to visit a museum in Italy that was open only by appointment since COVID. We also had to work around COVID restrictions preventing us from touring some healthcare facilities. We were disappointed however this actually allowed us more time to connect with professionals and have a more personal experience outside of the clinic setting where they would have work duties limiting our time together.

Impacting Your Classroom, School and Community

Outline specific plans you have to implement your fellowship and reach your student goals.

I am excited to say that we have created two new project based learning units one for medical innovations and the other for nutrition. We are working on two more. The first project requires students to research medical innovators from the past giving them inspiration for a second challenge of creating an original medical innovation of their own. The nutrition unit has research comparing and contrasting US guidelines with European models. Students will create a healthy lifestyle project.

What is one way you can leverage your fellowship to create one authentic learning experience for students? (e.g. hands-on learning, projects, community engagement)

After completing the four project based learning units students will be prepared to compete in HOSA Future Health Professionals state qualifying competition. Students can compete in one of the following event categories, Medical Innovations, Healthy Lifestyle, Cultural Diversity and Disparities in Healthcare or Nutrition. Students can earn an invitation to compete at the State level and National level from the qualifying events giving them valuable networking and scholarship opportunities.

How, specifically, will your fellowship extend beyond your classroom? (e.g. families, school-at-large, afterschool groups, surrounding community, colleagues, etc.)

My students will present and display projects at the district I Register event in the spring. This is a recruitment event that gives a preview of the career and technical programs offered in the district. I also plan to facilitate students participation in a local competition, beEntrepreneurial, hosted by the Invention to Innovation center at the University of Alabama Huntsville. For our colleagues across the state we plan to share the PBL units created via a shared Team Tri and Google drive.