Charles Ford leads tour in Israel and Jordan

Charles W. Ford, Ph.D., professor of health sciences in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, and his wife, Barbara, recently returned from Israel and Jordan as leaders in a two-week tour.  The Fords had participants from four states and locally from Kennebunk, Maine.

Since the Fords spent about three years (total) living and working in Israel during the UNE Israel Nursing Degree Completion Program from 1998 until 2010, they are quite familiar with the country and the various sites, both secular and religious.  The Nursing Program had active teaching sites in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv where UNE faculty taught Israeli nurses in English.

During the tour, Ford was able to bring together individuals associated with the UNE program including students and staff as well as family members whom they visited in Israel.  Included in the tour group of 31 were two former students at UNE.  This was the second group that Ford led to Israel; the first one occurred during a winter term and was comprised of all UNE students and parents as well as several faculty members.

The program included instruction by Ford in seminar on cross-cultural issues of living and working in Israel with particular attention to the health care system.  A Palestinian Christian living in Bethlehem was the licensed tour guide, and he provided both a political and historical perspective of ancient and modern Israel.  The tour included most of the northern half of Israel extending to the Syrian border in the Golan Heights.  The Jordan portion included the ancient city of Gerash and Petra as well as modern Amman.
 
 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.