The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Nursing students flying high

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Nursing students flying high

Staff Reporter

Two will go to Scotland for training

BRIGHTER PROSPECTS: Omayal Achi Nursing College students P. Shiny Roman and R. Helen Sharmila are ready for their training stint in Scotland hospitals. — PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO

CHENNAI: It is a venture that has paid off for Avadi-based Omayal Achi College of Nursing.

Fifteen of its students who took the one-year post-basic B.Sc. programme in nursing offered by the college on behalf of Queen Margaret University College (QMUC) in Edinburgh, Scotland, have completed the theory part and will have a personal interview with evaluators from the university on Wednesday.

Two women students, who have qualified the International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) examination with a minimum score of 6.5, will fly to Scotland to get trained in hospitals there on a six-month student visa, by June 15.

Stipend

The university will place the nurses in hospitals where they will work for three months for a stipend of 1,250 pounds a month.

Three weeks into traineeship, the nurses may apply to the UK Nursing Council for registration.

Most of the first batch of students was from Chennai hospitals with several years of experience in various departments.

Explaining the rationale behind this course, Valli Alagappan, managing trustee of Omayal Achi College of Nursing said: "Universities [abroad] offer specialised short-term courses. In India hospitals or institutions conduct specialised courses but they are not recognised by [a medical] university."

Applications

Omayal Achi College offers 50 seats and applications may be downloaded from the internet. On June 2, walk-in interview with the University officials for the next batch will be held at the Raja Annamalaipuram office of the Trust.

Candidates with at least two years' experience and registered as nurses or midwives with State Nursing Councils may apply.

The cost of the entire course, including the one-way airfare and the IELTS course-training fee is around Rs. 1.5 lakh.

Currently the college bears much of the expense of training students for the IELTS, said Mrs. Alagappan.

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