Scientific Reports · Mário JDS Santos
2.1 Secondment Report and practical suggestions
Private report, accessible exclusively to consortium members who are logged in.
2.2 Scientific proposals and outcomes of the secondments
1. General Information of the Participant
- Full name: Mário João Duarte da Silva Santos
- Home institution: Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
- Home country: Portugal
- Host institution: Universidad de Costa Rica
- Host country: Costa Rica
- Dates of the stay: January 13, 2025 – February 11, 2025
2. Knowledge and Skills Transfer
What specialised knowledge or skills did you contribute to the host institution?
During my stay, I had the opportunity to apply my expertise in participatory and qualitative research methods, both in conducting research and exchanging knowledge with members of the host institution. I participated in research meetings at CIEM where I could contribute to some of the projects that are being developed or that are going to be developed in the future.
Also, entering the field in Costa Rica as an outsider (from another country) but also as an insider (as a health professional and a peer) allowed me to identify privileged informants and valuable links that can now be part of new connections and collaborations with CIEM.
What new competencies or skills did you acquire during your stay?
I developed my autonomy in planning, conducting, and managing a research project.
I acquired advanced technical knowledge on health and hospital ethnography, through the practice of fieldwork carried out in health and education institutions.
I acquired knowledge on the local context of perinatal healthcare Costa Rica.
I also developed my language skills, improving my ability to communicate in Spanish, both writing, reading, and speaking.
3. Intercultural Exchange
What cultural differences did you observe in the way work and collaboration are conducted at the host institution?
Adaptation to the host institution was smooth and easy, thanks to the welcoming environment of the Centre and to the efforts of the staff for providing all the possible conditions for a positive and fruitful stay. There were no relevant cultural differences in the way of working and collaborating at UCR. There were, however, important cultural differences in the way of connecting, communicating, and living, and at the way perinatal healthcare is planned and delivered. This represented a great opportunity to analyse comparatively Portugal and Costa Rica, to learn, and to think outside of the box.
How has this intercultural exchange influenced your understanding of the topics addressed in the project?
Being in a different setting allowed me to understand, on the one hand, that some structural features of obstetric violence are embedded in perinatal healthcare services throughout the world, prevailing across cultures, anchored in gender inequities, epistemic injustice, and medical power and hegemony. On the other hand, it allowed me to learn from the specific idiosyncrasies of Costa Rican health education and perinatal healthcare, using it as a lever to discuss obstetric violence comparatively.
4. International Collaborations
How did your stay contribute to establishing new networks or strengthening existing collaborations?
My stay enabled the establishment of new networks, not only with the host researcher from CIEM, but with other researchers from CIEM, from other institutions within UCR such as the Nursing School, and with non-academic institutions, namely a healthcare institution and a user’s and professional’s movement.
Have you identified opportunities for future collaborations between your home and host institutions?
UCR and Iscte encountered an opportunity to collaborate beyond the duration of this stay. Researchers from CIEM working within the topic of reproduction, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood could benefit from NASCER – Iscte’s Laboratory for the Social Studies in Childbirth networking and communication tools, such as collaborating with other researchers in the field, sharing their research, learning from international experiences, and including Iscte as a possibility for future partnerships. From Iscte, me and my colleagues will hold CIEM and UCR as likely partners in future international projects in the field of women, gender, and feminist studies, connecting particularly with the research group on Gender, Life Course, and Health, of which I am part of.
5. Impact on the IPOV RESPECTFUL CARE Project
How has your stay contributed to the progress of the IPOV project?
The research project that was planned and implemented during my stay meets the aims of the IPOV project, proposing an analysis of the social dynamics underlying the phenomenon of obstetric violence, rendering visible often overlooked dimensions such as the barriers for implementation of change experienced by healthcare professionals, the coercion and other forms of violence experienced by healthcare students and professionals; the limitations in an approach to change that tackles academic but not injob training; and the role of perinatal experts who are not legally recognised as birth workers (doulas, perinatal advisors, lactation consultants, etc.).
What specific outcomes from your stay could significantly impact the project’s objectives?
Specific outcomes: one blog post on the invisibility of obstetric violence in Costa Rica, one journal article or book chapter on the barriers for change experienced by professionals, two oral communications at scientific events on obstetric violence and a comparative analysis of Costa Rica and Portugal. Not all outcomes have yet been delivered.
6. Professional Development
How has this experience influenced your professional career?
This experience opened the possibility for future collaboration with UCR, bringing new opportunities to enrichen my academic career. Also, it contributed for the development of my researcher profile, improving my chances to be selected for a tenured-track job in academia, in the near future.
What new professional opportunities arose as a result of your participation in this programme?
Potential opportunities include the ability to participate in internation research projects in Spanish speaking countries, the increased visibility of the interdisciplinary nature of my research profile, among others.
7. Challenges and Opportunities
What new professional opportunities arose as a result of your participation in this programme?
The main challenge was dealing with the precarious job situation I face in my home country, which I could overcome with the financial support from the project, enabling this secondment.
What unexpected opportunities arose, and how did you take advantage of them?
The availability of everyone contacted in such a short-time period was surprising and allowed for a data collection that was much richer than what was initially expected.
8. Innovations and Best Practices
What innovations or best practices did you observe at the host institution that you consider useful to implement in your home institution?
Seminars for the presentation and discussion of new and developing research projects, from early-career and established researchers.
Inclusion of all members of the staff in the institution website, including the IT, the front
desk, and the cleaning staff.
Involvement of some members of the non-scientific staff (librarian) in the researchrelated communication and discussion, and also in research itself.
Do you plan to apply any of these innovations at your home institution? If so, how?
Yes, and some are already taking place. Others are not as easy to implement.
9. Long-term Perspective
How do you think your stay abroad will contribute to future projects or initiatives you will participate in?
Yes, definitively UCR, if possible, will be part of any international project on obstetric violence or gender-based violence that I propose in the future. Also, more occasional forms of collaboration are welcomed, such as in the organis
How do you think your participation in the HORIZON-MSCA-2022-Staff Exchange project will contribute to your long-term goals?
At the long term, I aim to develop international and comparative social research on perinatal healthcare and obstetric violence, within a stable and adequate job position. I believe my participation in this SE will enhance my chances to reach this goal.
Photographs taken during the secondment
Participation on a course of advanced midwifery, gathering professionals with different backgrounds and profiles
CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: it only allows sharing the work as is, for non-commercial purposes, and always with credit to the author.
Instagram (and others) post regarding my stay at the UCR, from behalf of the Laboratory for Social Studies on Childbirth (nascer.pt):
https://www.instagram.com/p/DFm81PgMDpO/?img_index=6
CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: it only allows sharing the work as is, for non-commercial purposes, and always with credit to the author.
Visit to the School of Nursing of UCR, hosted by the Chair of the Master’s Program in Midwifery, Laura Lopez
CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: it only allows sharing the work as is, for non-commercial purposes, and always with credit to the author.
Seminar at CIEM with the presentation of several research projects and outputs regarding women and gender-based issues, featuring Melissa Hernandez (photo 22) and Gabriela Arguedas (photo 23).
CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: it only allows sharing the work as is, for non-commercial purposes, and always with credit to the author.
Also, visit to Mercado Central, in San José, with Melissa Hernandez, a fellow researcher from CIEM.
CC BY-NC-ND is the most restrictive: it only allows sharing the work as is, for non-commercial purposes, and always with credit to the author.
