Photo: Ghana Global Health Initiative
The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Global Health Pathway, established in 2024, expanded to include two new countries: Ghana and Armenia. Five UMass Chan Medical School faculty members and 16 nursing students traveled to these new destinations to provide comprehensive health assessments and staff community health fairs.
“Global health is important,” said Jean Boucher, PhD’02, RN, ANP-BC, AOCNP, professor of nursing, and Global Health Pathway coordinator. “Whether you're here in Worcester delivering care or you're out in Tanzania doing diabetic foot care, you're helping other people to do well.”
Akwasi Duah, PhD’17, RN, assistant professor of nursing, led the inaugural Ghana Global Health Initiative, partnering with the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana. Travel expenses were subsidized by the Hall Family Global Nursing Fund, established in 2024 with a gift from nursing instructor Kimberly Hall, DNP’19, FNP-BC, CDE, and her family.
“Some students never left the shores of the U.S. before, so this trip to Ghana showed them how things work in other cultures,” said Dr. Duah. “In Ghana, our tertiary or acute care hospitals have limited resources, but we have strong primary interventions where nurses go to homes in the community to implement interventions for chronic issues. Students saw nurses improvise because of limited resources; doing a lot with a little.”
“In Ghana, so much of care was rooted in education, prevention and community, and I think that’s something we could do better with here,” said Mary Morcos, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student in the Family Nurse Practitioner Track. “My biggest takeaway was the power of simple human connection. There were moments where we didn’t have much to offer, but just sitting with a patient, talking, educating or being present mattered.”
On June 7, DNP student Katya Maserejian, BSN, RN, and Nancy Arousiag Barsamian, DNP’23, MPH, RN, assistant professor of nursing, boarded a plane to Armenia. A first-generation American citizen, Maserejian speaks and writes Armenian fluently and says staying connected to Armenian culture is integral to her identity.
“It’s been incredibly meaningful to be part of the growing Global Health Pathway at UMass Chan, contributing to conversations around global collaboration and nursing scholarship,” said Maserejian, a student in the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Track who works on the acute trauma and orthopedic unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center. “The nursing students we are going to connect with in Armenia are part of only the second cohort in the country to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which makes this exchange and collaboration so impactful.”
“I love that UMass Chan is enriching our current curriculum, because when you go to Worcester and see the hospitals, it’s a very international population,” said Dr. Barsamian.
The trip is a full-circle moment for Barsamian, who conducted her doctoral work in Armenia and, as an adjunct professor at American University of Armenia, leads an annual educational course teaching quality and safety to BSN nurses in training. Maserejian will be shadowing nurses Barsamian welcomed from Amenia to Worcester in March for an on-campus panel.
UMass Chan nursing students have also participated in training opportunities in the Dominican Republic, Tanzania and Liberia.
