The Effectiveness of an International Development Cooperation Educational Program for Nursing Students

Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of the education program for IDC, targeting nursing students for ODA specialists in the medical health field in the future. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The study used descriptive research methods to Identify changes in nursing students’ IDC relations regarding perception, attitude before and after learning IDC educational program. 34 nursing students participated in the study. The questionnaires were a research tool for IDC’s perception that was produced by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). It was supplemented and revised to fit the purpose of the study after receiving approval of its use. Findings: The awareness of ODA of the subjects at the ‘know very well’ level largely increased from 5.9% before the education to 35.3% after the education. The awareness of MDG of the subjects was low at the level of ‘know very well,’ with a rate of 8.8% before the education, but increased to 58.8% after the education. The number of the subjects who reserved a strong level of approval to support ODA increased from 38.2% before the education to 47.1% after the education. The number of the subjects who agreed to expand the size of the existing ODA increased from 11.8% before the education to 32.4% after the education. Improvements/Applications: In order to systematically manage human resources to participate in the IDC business, it is suggested that college level programs to train and administer health care professionals be developed further.