1 With regard to the trainees, our aim was to give them the opportunity to deepen their professional qualifications and get to know different professional approaches through job shadowing and working in foreign institutions. In this way, we wanted to give them the opportunity to develop their personalities in a new cultural environment. With the intercultural skills they acquire during their stay abroad, our hospitals can improve the quality of patient care. 2 In other EU countries health professionals (physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and nurses) study at universities (of applied science) and are able to acquire bachelor’s and master’s degrees (Phd as well), but in Germany only few students study in a governmental model project at universities of applied sciences, most students still visit vocational schools. With this in mind it is very interesting for our teachers and trainers to compare the training in other EU countries in terms of teaching methods, learning materials, structural learning environments and assigned competences.
The Educational Academy is responsible for vocational training at Gesundheit Nord gGmbH. This includes, of course, the health professions. There are three reasons why the four vocational schools in the health sector (occupational therapy / physical therapy / nursing / speech and language therapy) are interested in providing learning experiences for their students: 1 The school for Occupational therapy made already very good experiences with Erasmusplus placements. Trainees have not only been able to develop their personal skills, but have also continued their training with great interest and motivation after their return. As a result, the other three vocational schools in the health sector have also expressed their interest in offering their students a professional learning experience via Erasmusplus. 2 Gesundheit Nord gGmbH wants to motivate more students to become a health professional by offering a professional experience abroad and thus achieve a higher interest of young people in the health professions. 3 Our experience has shown that a work placement abroad is directly requested by some trainees. This demand has motivated us to further develop the project in 2020 and the following years.