Tagged / HEMS

Prof Marahatta promoting BU-Nepal collaboration

international, Publishing, writing

On Monday 9th March Prof. Sujan Marahatta visited Bournmouth University (BU) to speak about ‘Strengthening BU-Nepal collaboration AND Nepal’s experience of competency-based health professional education’.  Prof. Marahatta is the Director of the Medical Education Commission in Nepal overseeing the education of health professionals in 15 areas including Medicine, Physiotherapy, Nursing and Midwifery. He spoke about long partnership between Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) and BU.  This partnership is formalised in a Memoradum of Agreement (MoA) and over the years it has included joint research projects, staff-student exchanges (funded by ERASMUS+ and Turing scheme) and offering guest lectures at each others institutions.

One of the jointly conducted studies which Prof. Marahatta highlighted was the work on CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in nursing and midwifery in Nepal.  Research on CPD started a decade ago and culminated in several papers [1-4]. The research was combined with sustained advocacy and stakeholder engagement, and resulted in the Nepal Nursing Council (NNC) formally introduced mandatory CPD as a requirement for nursing and midwifery re-registration earlier this year (15 January 2026).  The National Guideline on Continuing Nursing and Midwifery Education (CNME) CPD for Nurses and Midwives refer to our work conducted by academics based at Bournemouth University.  This is the foundation for one of BU’s REF Impact Case Studies for 2029.

Amongst other studies, Prof. Marahatta also highlighted a recent publication which was  jointly authored between BU’s professors Clark and Hundley and himself on pain catastrophising in nulliparous women in Nepal, the importance for childbirth [5].  Prof. Marahatta’s  visit was held in the Faculty of Health, Environment & Medical Sciences (HEMS) in the Bournemouth Gateway Building.

References:

  1. Simkhada B, Mackay S, Khatri R, Sharma CK., Pokhrel T, Marahatta SB., Angell C, van Teijlingen E, Simkhada P. (2016) Continual Professional Development (CPD): Improving Health Prospect15 (3):1-3.
  2. Khatri, RJ, van Teijlingen, E, Marahatta, SB, Simkhada, P, Mackay, S and Simkhada, B. Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities for Continuing Professional Development for Nurses: A Qualitative Study with Senior Nurse Leaders in Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences. 2021 7(1):15-29. 
  3. Simkhada B, van Teijlingen E, Pandey A, Sharma CK, Simkhada P, Singh DR (2023) Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Continuing Professional Development among Nepalese Nurses: A Focus Group Study Nursing Open.10(5).
  4. Simkhada B, van Teijlingen E, Sharma C, Pandey A, Simkhada P. (2023) Nepal needs Continuing Professional Development for Re-registration in Nursing and Midwifery Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, 21(60):541-42.
  5. Clark CJ, Marahatta SB, Hundley VA. (2024) The prevalence of pain catastrophising in nulliparous women in Nepal; the importance for childbirth. PLoS ONE 19(8): e0308129. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308129.

Interdisciplinary research: Not straightforward?

Fusion themes, international, Publishing, REF Subjects, writing

Worldwide there is a growing interest in interdisciplinary research, especially to help deal with large questions in life, the so-called wicked problems.  These wicked problems (or questions) include climate disasters and global warming, globalisation, the drop in biodiversity, inequalities and international conflicts.  Interdisciplinary research increasingly popular and widely promoted by grant-giving bodies, the UK REF (Research Excellence Framework), research councils and universities, to name but a few stakeholders.

However, it is often ignored, that interdisciplinary research presents significant challenges for discipline-specific experts.  Doing interdisciplinary research requires specialised skills, team-player personality traits, and the ability to transcend one’s own academic boundaries.  We have highlighted in the past that common barriers include managing conflicting research philosophies, navigating, and overcoming, methodological, and communication differences [1].  Those who have been involved in interdisciplinary research will agree that is not an easy option for the individual discipline expert. It requires individual skills, ability to see beyond one’s discipline and perhaps personality characteristics such as a great team player. Interdisciplinary research may involve a mixed-methods approach underpinned by conflicting, and according to some incommensurable, research philosophies.

It is also the case that some disciplines are perhaps more familiar with interdisciplinary working, disciplines such as Public Health [2] are traditionally less theory focused and more solution driven.  But even in Public Health as a broad-ranging discipline covering sub-disciplines such as epidemiology, health education, law, management, health psychology, medical statistics, sociology of health & illness and a wide-range of research methods, conducting interdisciplinary research is not necessarily easy [3].

 

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen & Dr. Pramod Regmi both are in the School of Health & Care, and Dr. Shanti Farrington, who is based in the School of Psychology.

 

References:

  1. Shanker S, Wasti SP, Ireland J, Regmi PR, Simkhada PP, van Teijlingen E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Research Team not the Interdisciplinarist. Europasian Journal of Medical Science. 3(2):111-5.
  2. Wasti, S. P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Public Health is truly interdisciplinary. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 6(1):21-22.
  3. van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v18i1.19337

BU to contribute to international midwifery workshop in 2026

Awarded & submitted bids, international, Women's Academic Network

This week Dr. Laura Iannuzzi, who is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health, was informed by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) that the proposed workshop ‘Rest or arrest? A workshop to advance knowledge and skills to support women, families and teams when dealing with a slowing or pausing of labour’ has been accepted for the ICM conference in 2026.  This workshop in Portugal will be run in collaboration with Laura’s international colleagues Prof. Marina Weckend and Ms. Anna Maria Rossetti.  

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen