Flinders alumni at the front line

Graduates of the Nankai and Flinders University joint Master of Hospital Administration are among hundreds of thousands of medical workers across China battling the coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19.

Nankai University has shared a glimpse into the lives of alumni who have stepped up to care for those who are sick and limit the spread of the virus.

They include Xu Hong, a senior nurse in the Department of Orthopaedics at the Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, who signed up with the medical aid team in Hubei on the eve of the Chinese New Year. Her years spent in respiratory departments and intensive care units, together with her leadership qualification, have enabled her to deliver valuable support not just as a team leader in care and treatment, but also in taking on routine tasks like bed cleaning due to staff shortages. Working from 7am to 3pm, she is exhausted at the end of the day and her skin is imprinted with the marks of her facemask – but she says that’s a small price to pay to help contain the virus.

Fellow alumnus Fan Fan is a head nurse at Beijing Friendship Hospital. As one of the few male nurses, he is tasked with more of the heavy lifting and ‘dirty work’ – gifting him an omnipresent and irritating hand rash.

Separated from their families, Ms Hong and Mr Fan are among 20 Nankai/Flinders graduates who have selflessly and courageously committed to helping those affected by the epidemic.

The Master of Hospital Administration is one of three postgraduate programs Flinders University runs in partnership with Nankai University, in Tianjin, China.

Nankai University’s article can be read here.

Meanwhile Flinders graduate Yichang Huang, who left the University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) (Screen and Media), reported for Chinese Global TV Network (CGTN) on a patient sent to a makeshift hospital in Wuhan.

Miss Huang gained employment with CGTN, the official English language TV station for China’s Central Government, on her return to China armed with her Flinders University qualification.

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