A Thai and an Aberdeen academic are taking part in an exchange programme to help boost links between educational institutes in the two countries.
Dr Sirtree Suttajit, from the Mahasarakham University in North-east Thailand is currently visiting the University of Aberdeen to discover more about the UK health and education systems.
Dr Julie Bruce, a senior research fellow in the Epidemiology Group and Department of Public Health at the University of Aberdeen, will visit Mahasarakham University in July this year.
The exchange is part of The DUO Fellowship Program, an initiative established by the Thai Commission on Higher Education which aims to promote the exchange of staff and students between higher education institutions in Thailand and European Union member states.
Dr Suttajit, who is the Assistant Dean for Research and International Affairs at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahasarakham University, is spending one month on a visiting Fellowship at the Department of Public Health, University of Aberdeen.
During the exchange Dr Suttajit will visit health service researchers and academics from the Institute of Applied Health Sciences (IAHS), departments in the School of Medicine and Dentistry and staff from the Graduate School. Developing her research interests, which include public health pharmacy and pharmacoepidemiology, will be one of the main objectives of her visit.
During her visit to Mahasarakham University, Dr Bruce will lecture at a conference hosted by the Faculty of Pharmacy and will also present work at Sirindhorn Public Health College in Ubon Ratchathani.
Dr Bruce says of the initiative: "The exchange programme creates an invaluable opportunity for academics from geographically distant institutes to work together and share knowledge and information. This is hugely beneficial in terms of developing research and showcasing the work which is being generated by the individual universities involved. I am very excited to be taking part in this unique initiative and am looking forward to the chance to build prosperous future links between the University of Aberdeen and Mahasarakham University."
These current visits build upon previous University of Aberdeen staff and student exchanges. The first exchange visit took place in 2006, when Dr Margaret Watson from the Department of General Practice and Primary Care completed a Duo-Thai Exchange.
Since then, four undergraduate pharmacy students from Mahasarakham University have undertaken workplace experience in community settings and hospitals in NHS Grampian. It is hoped that medical students from the University of Aberdeen will soon be able to undertake workplace experience in hospitals or primary care settings in Mahasarakham.