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Rotary World Service - District 5950 Group Study Exchange 2003
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Rotary World Service - District 5950 Group Study Exchange 2003 |
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| Norway - April 2003 | Day 8- April 29, 2003 | |
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Meet
the Team Photos: click a photo to see it full size. Use your browser BACK button to return to the journal page.
Contact the Team THE TRIP
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April 29, 2003 Today was our second "Vocational Day" in Norway. These individually organized, full-day programs are intended to connect you with Norwegian professionals with the aim of establishing common professional connections, facilitating discussions in your professional interest areas, and promoting an exchange of information and ideas. My first vocational day was last week. I had the great opportunity to visit the health services offices in the nearby city of Nedre Eiker. Our visit started at the equivalent of City Hall where I got a tour of the city's entire computer system, but specifically the computer system that deals with health services offered to the community. A number of very interesting conversations ensued about healthcare, in general, in Norway. Our visit ended with a tour of nearby nursing home, Alzheimer's unit, and psych ward. One of my primary areas of professional interest is Alzheimer's-related computerized educational programs for caregivers and professionals. As such, it was a great opportunity to both speak with local health administrators as well as tour the Alzheimer's unit. In contrast to our expansive Alzheimer's units in the U.S., my contact told me that the norm in Norway is to have patients in areas of only 8 patients. They eat in groups of 8, live in groups of 8! , etc. Apparently this structure leads to a great deal less agitation than when they are in larger groups. Having not been exposed directly to such a configuration, it made quite an impression. Today's vocational day focused a little more on the educational side of things. I visited the Høgskolen i Buskerud Technical University in Kongsberg, Norway. It is a newer building with innovative programs in computer science, engineering, optometry, entrepeneurship, etc. Not really knowing what to expect in these vocational days, I was in for a number of suprises during the day. Within minutes of starting our meeting, a professional colleague of my host Kristian Kløvland asked for some help setting out a program for their upcoming student technology Innovation Camp. Most of what I do professionally (including my Alzheimer's work) falls into the category of "innovation" and "innovative research." Needless to say, I felt right at home and (I think) made a substantial contribution to their upcoming May 19th Innovation Camp plans. It was a totally unexpected opportunity for all involved. Afterwards, we took a tour of the school and stumbled into a number of electrical and mechanical engineering laboratories. While not exactly my area of expertise or interest, one piece of machinery was like a bar of gold sitting on the shelf: a hydrogen energy converter. Alternative energy development is a huge area of personal interest. I have been reading quite a bit on the units which use hydrogen to create electricity. In the coming years, it is thought that these units will power everything from cars to computers to our homes. A really lively discussion with Kristian took place. Truth be told, I could have talked about it all afternoon. Our third stop of the day was to Norway's only optometry program. It's a three year program that is a combination of the U.S. optometry and optitrician programs acknowleging the fact that many students could find themselves in the far reaches of the Norwegian countryside far away from other clinics. In other words, they are trained to be somewhat of a generalist to be able to take care of a wide variety of needs and situations. As it turns out, Associate Professor Magne Helland, had done a bit of research for me and was waiting with a few very interesting journal articles on Alzheimer's and its affect on optical issues. It stands to reason that if there is a decline in cognitive and other thinking abilities, that the eyes would also be affected at some point in the disease process. I had just never thought about it, though. It has some absolute implications for the work that I do on a daily basis. Lastly, we visited the Computer Science department to talk about computer education in Norway. While today's common web development courses are offered as electives (website design, video production, animation creation, etc.), this program focuses more on technical computer education bordering almost on computer engineering. They have an innovative program where students take their first two years in Norway and then rotate between three other schools in Germany, Portugal, and Scotland. All four programs are associated, so the same BS is given no matter where you start. It's the most coordinated foreign study program I have ever heard of (particularly in technical education). In summary, it was an excellent day, highly applicable to what I am doing in my every day work, and has led to the creation of a number of excellent contacts in my professional field. In addition, it was a heck of a lot of fun. One of the aims of the Group Study Exchange program with Rotary is to make a significant impact on your career through the life of your profession. With a day like today with so many professional synergies, it's not hard to see how that would happen. A question I've been asking myself, though, is about some of the less-related activities we have participated in and how/if they would also affect my career. So last night I started to write down some of the various activities we have taken part of with a sentence below each one with a short description of how could have a last impact professionally. So you can get an idea of what I'm talking about, a few are below: Activity: A seemingly professionally-unrelated visit to a Norwegian National Guard (Home Guard)/NATO training facility. One of our military hosts made the comment that since Norway is small, it has taken a very visible role in peacekeeping missions worldwide with the hopes that if Norway ever again needs protection, this visibility will ensure that Norway is not forgotten. Direct Applicability to my Career: Being a small business owner, keeping myself highly visible in a supportive role with my customers could have a positive affect should my business ever be in a difficult position. Activity: A tour of the Drammen, Norway Chamber of Commerce. In this tour, the chamber director mentioned that Drammen in undergoing a major restoration in a partial attempt to attract new, young, professional families. Direct Applicability to my Career: Professionally, it is prudent to continually keep up your skills to keep yourself marketable, even if these skills require an investment of time, effort, and money. Activity: Helping to create the Innovation Camp schedule at the technical university this morning. Direct Applicability to my Career: As part of my advice to students, I talked about how innovative idea generation is best done outside your normal work or study place. The idea being that creative and innovative thinking often comes easier if you are in different or new surroundings. Given that their are mountains and forests everywhere in Norway, I suggested that if students are having difficulties thinking in an innovative manner, they should go sit on the mountain for an afternoon and that ideas will come to them. It then occurred to me that I never do this even myself! So today I'm thinking that two hours of innovative thinking by a lake, river, or forest in Minnesota could have a significant impact on my business planning. I will conclude by saying that the Group Study Exchange continues to far exceed my expectations professionally. It is just an incredible program, and I look forward to the next three weeks. Lynn: I spent my day with the information department of The Kongsberg Group's Simrad division. This division makes various controls for off-shore oil drilling. If you ever wondered what keeps floating oil platforms in place, I can explain it at another time. In addition to learning more about the company, I was also able to learn about how the information group works, what value it places on the Internet and how they deal with the media. I enjoyed seeing the media relations aspect from "the other side" and received copies of their media policies. In the afternoon, I went to the HQ of the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, and saw some of their marketing efforts, including special advertisements bread bags. I also, along with Alanna, visited a school that teaches Norwegian to immigrants and refugees. This was of personal interest to me, as I was once a (temporary) immigrant to Norway. Finally, this evening, I visited the Skaugum Rotary Club, which hosted my exchange in 1989. It was a moving experience to see some familiar faces and to thank them for what they provided for me 14 years ago. |