Global Health
Leadership Office

International Scholars: Scholarship Opportunities for International Studies

Minu K. and Mehroo Patel Nursing Advancement Endowment for India

Established in 2005 and endowed by Minu Patel (professor emeritus of nursing at UIC) and his wife, Dr. Mehroo Patel (a retired family practice physician), the award is bestowed upon graduate students who plan to return to India to work as educators in advanced nursing education programs; provides funding to nurse-educators from India to visit the College as short-term or special study scholars; and provides funding to nurse-educators from the College to visit India to conduct research and training.

Further, the Patels’ spearheaded a collaborative visit by UIC College of Nursing representatives to the Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Red Cross, Tehmi Grant Institute and Satara University in June 2006. The fruits of this initiative helped to establish a nursing education program at Bel-Air Hospital, Panchgani, India. The UIC partnership facilitates development of the baccalaureate program for nursing students at the Bel-Air College Of Nursing under the auspices of Maharashtra Health Sciences University, which admitted its first class of students in borrowed classrooms and dormitories. Ground was broken for the new nursing college building in 2006 and completed in late 2007. The first class of BSN students graduated in March 2011.

The Patels' vision of global partnership has inspired the local Indian population. The formal inauguration event took place on December 9, 2007 with about 600 guests, including government and Red Cross officials, other invitees and the Bel-Air community. At the inauguration, Minu read a message from UIC College of Nursing Dean Joan Shaver, RN, PhD, and presented a congratulatory plaque on UIC’s behalf. Mehroo addressed the faculty and the students of the college, inspiring them to rise above the ordinary. "We recognize the bright future for Bel-Air," said Mehroo. "The needs are financial, but not simply financial. People with knowledge and expertise have to come together and pour in their efforts."

Founded to treat tuberculosis patients, Bel-Air Hospital is now internationally recognized for its work with HIV/AIDS. According to a feasibility study sponsored by the UIC College of Nursing Global Health Leadership Office, Bel-Air Hospital's strength as an HIV/AIDS care provider "gives it a unique and needed place in nursing education" in the west central state of Maharashtra in India.