Service-Learning a Win-Win for Students, Community

Service-learning is a valuable and rewarding part of the education that students receive at Nebraska Methodist College. Simply put, service-learning is learning while serving your community. It’s about helping others in need while gaining important experience for a future job or career.

That’s exactly the idea behind NMC’s service-learning opportunities. NMC offers several service-learning opportunities through outreach to local immigrant and refugee populations, regional Native American tribes, and area elderly. NMC also partners with several community organizations, which are hubs of service-learning opportunities for students.

Last week, we took a look at the experiences of a group of students who traveled to the Rosebud Indian Reservation for NMC’s Rosebud Service Immersion. The trip, one of multiple service immersions throughout the year, is a prime example of service-learning.

Students worked in several settings where their career could potentially take them, including hospital and outpatient settings, ambulance calls, a local women’s shelter, and an alcohol and substance abuse recovery ranch for youth. While gaining that valuable experience, they offered their skills to people in need. The trip also gives students a chance to broaden their horizons by working with people from another culture and different economic background.

Another excellent example of service-learning takes place in NMC’s accelerated nursing program. Students provide health education and screenings to Omaha-area immigrants and refugees at the Mexican Consulate, the Somali Bantu Center, the International Center of the Heartland and for World Refugee Day. Just like students who attend the Rosebud Service Immersion, the accelerated nursing students get a chance to practice their skills while learning about people from other cultures.

Among other service-learning partnerships, NMC’s community partnerships with Cosmopolitan International and Omaha Housing Authority stand out. NMC partners with Cosmopolitan International for the Mobile Diabetes Center. Through the Mobile Diabetes Center, NMC students provide diabetes screenings and education in a wide variety of community settings. Through NMC’s partnership with the Omaha Housing Authority, students provide health screening and education for older adults in public housing.

Service-learning is a win-win in providing help to those in the community who are in need, while building skills and experience in the healthcare professionals of tomorrow.

For more information about NMC’s service-learning opportunities, visit our Community-Based Learning page.