One of the two midwifery cohorts of 2017, which is 2nd batch (A), attended their graduation ceremony in July. Soon after, all of the 163 graduates of this batch have started their 6-month internship. Unique to this year is the split of the internship into community and clinical placements. This reinforces midwives’ learning from our midwifery curriculum that invests 60% time on ‘practical’.
To start with the internship, all of the 163 graduate midwives who hail from more than 72 sub-districts across the country have returned to their hometowns or villages. They are interacting with people in the communities and liaising with local institutions to raise awareness on maternal and neonatal health, adolescent healthcare, hygiene, nutrition, family planning etc. At the same time, they are giving antenatal and postnatal services.
The exercise would help the graduates map their community in respect of clients’ health-seeking habits, and the government and private health centres. From September, the internship will continue as clinical placements in health centres and clinical facilities of BRAC’s HNPP, Marie Stopes and other partners. We expect, the internship would enable the graduate midwives to enter the community well, and increase their confidence and renew their midwifery pledge.
These graduate midwives are staying in touch with midwifery instructors to report on their CEGM progresses made monthly, and also to review their academic learning ahead of the midwifery licensing exam likely in early 2018.