Management

Erasmus-Columbus 2013André den Exter and Mahsa Ghari in PanamaIn 2010, André den Exter (assistant professor of Health Law) andMahsa Ghari (student of the bachelor Health Policy & Management),have been awarded an ERACOL scholarship. As result, both wereoffered the opportunity to spend some time at one of the partneruniversities in Panama.ERACOL (Erasmus-Columbus 2013) scholarships are intended to createmutual enrichment and better understanding between the EuropeanCommunity and Latin American countries. The target audience consistsof students and graduates from Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama andfrom European partner universities, who wish to spend a ‘mobility’ (i.e.exchange) period abroad for the purpose of participating in a study,training or research programme.André den Exter visited Panama City twice in 2010. At the LatinUniversity of Panama, he implemented a teaching programme andorganised a conference on Health Law. The teaching programmecovered a series of lectures on International Health Law and HeathEthics. Furthermore, Den Exter organised an international conferenceon Access to Health Care in the Latin American Region, aimed atexchanging ideas and formulating suggestions for improving (thepopulation’s) access to health care. The conference was open forboth health professionals and medical and/or law students, enablingboth groups to exchange their knowledge in the field of health care.Several topics were addressed including: the concept of international“Being outside my comfort zone in Panama has beeninfinitely valuable to me”health law, contemporary issues and the future of health law, humanrights and health care, genetics and health care rights, health careethics, and regulating clinical trials.Mahsa Ghari spent a full 7 months in Panama. At the faculty ofCriminology of the National University of Panama, she conductedresearch on the prevention and screening methods of Intimate PartnerViolence (IPV). IPV is a specialised form of domestic violence and amajor problem in Panama, mainly due to its machismo culture.Ghari experienced enormous cultural differences between European30