EDUCATION. The first round of students admitted to the newly established master’s program in Reproductive and Perinatal Health have defended their theses. Their research work proved to be of exceptional quality, and was rewarded with a scholarship from the Professor A.L. Lindquist Scholarship Fund.
The master’s program in Reproductive and Perinatal Health admitted its first round of students in the autumn semester of 2015. The development of the program means that the nurses who want to train to become midwives can now choose between two alternative programs at the Institute of Health and Care Sciences: they may either follow the regular midwifery program, or can choose to apply to the master program in Reproductive and Perinatal Health, which covers subject matter relevant to midwives. With the inauguration of the master’s program, the University of Gothenburg became the first university in Sweden to offer a full master’s degree program for prospective midwives.
Ten students were admitted to the first round of the program, and six of these have now taken the final exam for the last required course: Master’s Thesis 15 ECTS. The masters theses address various challenges faced by practicing midwives.
“The healthcare sector needs well-educated midwives. A midwife who has studied at the master’s level has demonstrated greater commitment to the development and practice of evidence-based healthcare,” says Senior Lecturer Margareta Mollberg, who is the program coordinator.
For her master’s thesis, one of the students, Camilla Buskhe, studied midwives’ experiences with teaching midwifery students about perineal protection techniques.
“I love working in the healthcare sector, and scientific research is the key to making advancements in that field. Working in research allows one a greater opportunity to influence the development of healthcare than one is afforded as an individual healthcare professional. I would like to continue my studies on the doctoral level,” enthuses Camilla Buskhe.
Another student, Caroline Lundgren, whose master’s thesis is based on qualitative interviews with women who have given birth and deals with their experiences in the delivery room, describes how she feels that the master’s program strengthened her academically:
“When I first took my bachelor’s degree in nursing and had to write a bachelor’s thesis, I found it really difficult and wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the work I presented. Since then, I’ve written two master’s level theses. It feels like the penny finally dropped. The master’s program has really challenged me and helped me grow, and has given me a scientific foundation for my work as a midwife,” says Carolina Lundgren.
Marie Berg, the academic chair for the Reproductive and Perinatal Health master’s program, is impressed by the exemplary quality of the students’ master’s theses.
“The theses are written in the form of scientific research articles, and conform to the guidelines imposed by specific journals. Based on my experience in assessing scientific research papers, I have to say that these theses are of excellent quality, and I believe that several of them have a good chance of getting published,” elaborates Marie Berg.
The collected master’s theses have been awarded a scholarship from the Professor A.L. Lindquist Scholarship Fund.
The Institute of Health and Care Sciences already offers numerous freestanding courses at the master’s level.
TEXT AND PHOTO: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
