UP Manila College of Nursing (UPCN) renewed its partnership with Japanese Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing (JRCHCN) through a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on
February 27, 2024 at the UPCN Auditorium. The signing was attended by UP Manila Chancellor Michael L. Tee, UPCN Dean Sheila Bonito, JRCHCN President Yumi Tamura, JRCHCN faculty members Yosuke Takada
and Azusa Koresawa, and five JRCHCN nursing student representatives.

Chancellor Tee expressed his confidence that the partnership between the two institutions will further enrich nursing education at UP Manila. “I’ve been a witness to how the College of Nursing has expanded and broadened its influence. It is a college that not just develops our students into best nurses but rather we have the best nursing leaders in the country – maybe in UP Manila and JRCHCN Form Partnership: College of Nursing Education Approach Earns Recognition from Visiting Students the region because we are a World Health Organization and Commission on Higher Education Center of Excellence… [I] am
also proud that our College of Nursing will be able to bring in a brand of expertise to which Filipinos are known for,” he said during the MOA signing ceremony

The UPCN Experience

Asked about their fondest experiences in integration in the field during their community integration activities with UPCN, Hina Nakamura, a nursing student from JRCHCN shared, “The studying style in the Philippines is different [from Japan]. There are discussions and activities between the students and the teachers.” Natsumi Tagawa, also a nursing student from JRCHCN was pleased that community immersion was included in the activities.

She said that Nursing in Japan revolves only around the four corners of the classrooms and in the hospital.

“The [JRCHCN] students are impressed by how the Filipino nursing students are more independent. The students here [in the Philippines] are more collaborative because they are encouraged to speak their minds. They are also very kind,” JRCHCN faculty Azusa Koresawa shared, as she recalled their experience with the UPCN students.

Since 2018, UPCN and JRCHCN have established an academic collaboration through research partnerships and student exchange. During their stay in the Philippines, JRCHCN students participated in a two-week lecture, clinical training education, cultural activities and community exposure activities.

Text by: Ehcel S. Hurna
Photo by: Joseph A. Bautista