PhD Student Naeema Patel's Exchange Scheme Programme Experience at Malmö University

PhD student Naeema had the opportunity to go to Malmö University as part of an exchange scheme earlier this year. She has written this post about her experience below.

During the second year of my PhD, I was given a fantastic opportunity to visit and present to a group of academics, PhD students and researchers of the Department of Care Sciences at Malmö University in Sweden, as part of an exchange scheme programme with the University of Leicester Department of Population Health Sciences SAPPHIRE group. I would like to thank Malmö University and PhD student Annica Rosvall for organising this whole trip and for being such wonderful hosts. I would also like to thank my supervisor Professor Alice Smith and the lead of SAPPHIRE research group, Professor Carolyn Tarrant, for giving me this wonderful opportunity and experience. I would like to reflect on my experiences through this blog.

I arrived in Malmo on 22nd May 2023, on the first day of the programme, I presented my current PhD work and findings as part of a quality improvement event, highlighting the importance of self-management in kidney disease, my Delphi study on the benefits valued by key stakeholders, and my qualitative interviews of healthcare staff perceptions and experiences. There was time for questions which was a great opportunity to get a deeper insight into our research and methodology. The audience was particularly impressed with MyKidneys&Me, the digital education and self-management resource produced by our Leicester team. To break the ice, there were plenty of discussions with PhD students on our experiences and interests relating to using digital interventions and behaviour change measures and assessments.

I also visited the kidney specialists and healthcare staff at the Skåne University Hospital. I attended their weekly meeting and again presented my PhD work and the work carried out by our team in Leicester. This led to many insightful discussions relating to kidney health and the importance of patient education. It was great to hear about their passion for enhancing patient engagement in kidney disease during the earlier stages. During this session, I was able to talk about my qualitative interviews with kidney specialists in the UK, especially about clinic appointment structure and health services for kidney disease. I was able to speak to one of the nurses in the hospital involved in patient education and management. The current approach used in Skåne University Hospital is group sessions with patients, family members and clinicians in pre-dialysis care to enhance knowledge on CKD and shared decision making. As the patient experiences and improvement were not assessed formally, I suggested how this could be designed into a great research study to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach using qualitative staff, family member and patient experiences and different knowledge and efficacy-based outcome measures.

During my stay, there were plenty of traditional ‘fika’ breaks- a quick chat coffee and tea break, a lovely way of networking where Swedes routinely pause throughout the day. I also noticed the diversity in Malmö on the streets, University Campus and the hospital, just like Leicester. I discussed with one of the researchers how it is crucial to address health inequalities and tailor culturally appropriate services. I was able to discuss and establish research ideas and concepts for kidney disease, other metabolic conditions and public health. We discussed opportunities for fruitful collaboration in the future.

This experience has been great for my professional development, and enhanced my confidence and passion for research on making a difference to improving healthcare services and patient experiences. This experience reinforced my understanding of the impact of my PhD and the work of our team contributing to healthcare.