International visitor Timothy Phelan from Miyagi University, Japan

Timothy Phelan, Executive director of International affairs from Miyagi University in Japan is visiting Finland and Tampere University of Applied Sciences this week. During the visit Professor Phelan meets the TAMK International Services staff as well as current exchange students from Miyagi University, Ryoko Sasaki and Ryo Tominaga.

Ryoko Sasaki (left) and Ryo Tominaga (right) were warmly welcoming Professor Timothy Phelan to TAMK and Finland

During the stay Professor Phelan will also visit The TAMK Finlayson campus of Art, Music and Media studies and meet personnel from the TAMK Research and Development department to discuss and plan the cooperation in the future. He will additionally pay a visit to the School of Health Care and meet the President of TAMK, Markku Lahtinen, as well.

In their meeting Professor Phelan surprised his students by testing their knowledge about facts of Tampere and after the official program the students were happy to introduce the campuses and the city of Tampere to him.

Professor Phelan asked the students couple of tricky questions about Tampere

Text: Panu Alanko, Trainee, TAMK International Services
Photos: Kaisa Merilahti, TAMK International Services

Two groups from Miyagi University

In the end of August two groups from Miyagi University, Japan, arrived in TAMK for study visits. Three Nursing students participated in an intensive course called Gerontological Nursing. At the same time Research & Development department was hosting a group of six Miyagi students.

The nursing students Yoriko Arashida, Risa Nishiyama and Chiho Saito had a full programme for the whole two weeks. They participated in the lectures with Finnish nursing students and they had a chance to see different aspects of elderly nursing in Finland like hospitals, retirement homes and home care. The organizer of the visit, Principal Lecturer in School of Health Care, Sirpa Salin was really pleased to see how eager the Miyagi students were to learn. She also got lot of new energy when she saw the enthuasism of the students.

The girls become friends with TAMK nursing students and luckily they're going to meet again next spring when the TAMK student group is going to visit Miyagi University.

In the end of the visit Principal Lecturer Sirpa Salin handed out the Certificates to the Miyagi students.

The other Miyagi group consisted of six students from different fields like Tourism, Design and Business studies. The aim of the programme was to innovate new concepts in collaboration with R&D staff and their projects. During the visit the student stayed at home accomodation so they got the first-hand experience of Finnish homes, families and culture.

Looking forward to having active cooperation with Miyagi University in the future as well!

Text and photo: Kaisa Merilahti, International Services