Nadhira Karim
My PhD focuses on Voluntary immigrant parents’ experiences from Middle Eastern countries while attending child healthcare services in Northern Ireland. As a student and migrated voluntarily for study purposes with three kids to a new country, I was interested to understand the experiences of immigrant parents and their engagements with the new healthcare system in Northern Ireland. Previous studies mostly focused on non-voluntary migrants and there are wide support and guidance for them from the new country. I examined this specific group to explore their issues also to recommend the finding of this study to the health policymaker to provide better healthcare and develop the related services for this specific group of parents and children.
My PhD funded by Kurdistan region government- Iraq.
What is your ideal Research outcome?
The outcome of this research can be both academic and non-academic as the issues related to healthcare services. This can be through providing the extra training for all type of healthcare professional that interacts with the immigrant parents. Additionally, the findings of this research can be used and linked with the mixed studies and explore healthcare professionals to obtain a deep understanding of voluntary immigrant parents’ from healthcare perspectives.
Supervisors
Dr Claire Kerr, Dr Breidge Boyle and Prof Maria Lohan.
Why did you choose this PhD and why at Queen’s?
I am a Kurdish mum from Kurdistan- Iraq, my background in Nursing. I had BSC in Nursing and MSC in Maternal and child of Health Nursing. I was lucky to be a PhD student at Queen’s University Belfast one of the highest rat and well-known university among the universities in the world.
How have you been supported at Queen’s?
Being in the Queen’s and participating on a different occasion helped gain more experiences and knowledge in my area.
In what ways have you developed at Queen’s?
I can see my self different from the past as I have more experiences and I can work independently.
Can you describe the postgraduate community in the School and at Queen’s?
Postgraduate school is the best place in the Queen’s and I participated in different workshops there from the first year until final year such as academic writing, NVivo training, seminars and how to do interviews….ect.
Where do you hope your PhD will lead?
In the future, I would like to work in research Nursing in my field, and I think having a PhD will open more opportunity to me.
Anything else you would like to add or advice to new PGR students?
Engage with the virtual supports available during lockdown as much as you can, it is possible to build relationships online and hopefully we will get to meet IRL sometime soon.