At end-January, the Santiago Center received the visit of the Columbia University School of Nursing Dean Lorraine Frazier, the Associate Dean for Global Health at Columbia’s School of Nursing, Tonda Hughes, and the Director of International Affairs at Universidad Católica’s School of Nursing, Lilian Ferrer.
Issues discussed included support to extend nurse practitioner services into Chile’s primary health care system to relieve overburdened public hospitals, the current state of affairs in Chile considering the social upheaval since October 2019, and Hughes’ and Ferrer’s advances and expectations in the PGIF project looking into research gaps on sexual minority health in Chile.
While in Chile, the Columbia faculty also held meetings with peers from Universidad Católica (UC) regarding other potential research projects, while Frazier met with UC’s vice dean for the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Jaime Godoy.
Additionally, together with Columbia School of Nursing Assistant Professor Billy Caceres, Hughes presented her research on LGBT health to faculty and students from the UC’s Master in Public Health and Science in Nursing. They also met with leaders from NGOs to learn more about the LGBT community in Chile and explore future collaboration.
In discussions with the Santiago Center, the two Columbia Nursing School officials highlighted the potential opportunities in furthering joint work with Chile.
