SALEM - About 30 nursing students from Japan are visiting Salem State College through Wednesday, Aug. 14 to gain a better understanding of how healthcare works in the United States.

The Japanese students from Red Cross Hiroshima College of Nursing arrived on Thursday, Aug. 7 to begin a one-week intensive program that involves lectures by faculty members of the School of Nursing at Salem State as well as field trips to hospitals and clinical institutions.

This is the second year the program has been operated by the Salem State College School of Nursing in conjunction with the Division of Continuing Education and the Center for International Education at the college. "International exchange programs among students of different cultures have served as a marvelous vehicle to enhance understanding of cultural diversity and global awareness," said the program coordinator Joanne H. Evans of Marblehead. "It is crucial to increase this dialogue to improve healthcare for all individuals world-wide," she added.

The School of Nursing/Human Services at Salem State College on June 30 received re-accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Education for a 10-year period, through June 30, 2013.

Highlights for the students from Japan will include trips to the North Shore Medical Center today, the North Shore Children's Hospital on Monday, April 11, and a tour of the Public Health Museum in Tewksbury on Tuesday, April 12. The students will also be treated to pizza at Bertucci's in the North Shore Shopping Center on Tuesday.