Diploma III in Nursing (STIKes Muhammadiyah Banjarmasin)
Contents
Before the bachelor’s, there was the diploma. In August 2016 I graduated with a Diploma III in Nursing (Ahli Madya Keperawatan, A.Md.Kep.) from Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan (STIKes) Muhammadiyah Banjarmasin, an International Class cohort taught with a heavier English-language load than the standard track. STIKes Muhammadiyah Banjarmasin was the health-sciences college that later grew into Universitas Muhammadiyah Banjarmasin , the same institution where I’d return for my Bachelor’s five years later.
The Program
The diploma ran 120 credits, structured around five subject groups: personality and civic subjects (religion, civics, Indonesian language); foundational science (anatomy and physiology, physics and biology, psychology, nutrition, microbiology and parasitology, pharmacology, biochemistry, pathology); clinical nursing practice across specializations, medical-surgical, community, pediatric, maternity, family, psychiatric, and gerontology nursing, each paired with a hands-on clinical placement; professional-attitude subjects (nursing ethics, professional nursing, communication in nursing, nursing research, health promotion, nursing documentation); and nursing management and leadership.
The “International Class” part of the name showed up mostly in the language load: General English I and II, Nursing English I and II, Advanced English, and English I and II under the social-relationship subjects, seven English courses in total, plus Arabic I through V and a Trans Culture course, on top of the standard nursing curriculum.
Where It Led
This diploma was my entry point into healthcare and into structured, high-stakes clinical training years before I’d ever touch a marketing brief. It’s also the credential that set up everything that came after it: I went on to complete the Bachelor’s in Nursing at the same institution’s successor university.
The diploma closed with a case-study final paper written after a clinical placement in a hospital cardiology ward. I’ve since written up the clinical knowledge behind it, without any patient’s real case details, as a reference piece on heart failure and the nursing process .