New project for refugees on qualification in patient care started

Gain expertise and qualify refugees for patient care
Special advanced training for refugees is offered at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), with the help of which an adaptation of already existing medical qualifications is to be made possible. The European Union is funding the project with more than half a million euros. Thus, existing medical expertise can be preserved and adapted to the needs of patient care in Germany.

The UKE now qualifies refugees for patient care. At the Academy for Education and Career of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, interested refugees can learn how to care for patients. The EU is supporting the European Social Fund (ESF) project with € 540,000 for four years.

In the UKE, refugees are qualified for patient care. (Image: pixelaway / fotolia.com)

Patient care varies worldwide
"Courses and internships prepare participants professionally, linguistically and culturally for work in patient care," says the UKE. For four years, this support was granted from the ESF. "In our project, the refugees can get to know the peculiarities of German patient care," emphasizes Professor Dr. med. Walter Teichmann, Project Manager and Managing Director of the UKE Academy for Education and Career. It has long been known that patient care worldwide is handled differently, and in some countries, from which the refugees currently come to Germany, patients are mainly cared for by the family, explains the physician.

Specialized training and practical assignments
The UKE now offers refugees who are "interested in a medical, nursing or therapeutic activity" the opportunity to acquire appropriate qualifications for patient care. They can "shortly after their arrival in Germany participate in the project, educate themselves in technical language and get used to the employment cultural features of the German health care and patient care in practice mostly in the UKE," says the University Hospital.

Completed medical or health profession requirement
Prerequisite for participation in the project is a completed education in a medical or health profession in the respective country of origin and a residence status, reports the UKE. There would be no special requirements for linguistic knowledge here. In addition to the UKE Academy, several other institutes and clinics of the UKE as well as the Volkshochschule Hamburg and the "telc GmbH" (language test providers) are involved in the project. Those interested can apply directly to the UKE Academy of Education and Career. Upon admission, an individual planning of the qualification takes place. After about three to six months, the participants will be prepared professionally, linguistically and culturally for work in patient care in courses and internships.

Expertise and qualifications are retained
"With this new offer we are expanding our qualification measures for migrants already developed for several years", explains Professor Teichmann. This has already been offered for two years as an adaptation qualification for health professionals. In this context, targeted qualification measures such as clinical-practical assignments as well as specialist and language-integrated funding should enable the recognition of a professional qualification that had previously been acquired abroad, reports the UKE. In this way, an existing professional qualification is not lost, but can be preserved and possibly even expanded. (Fp)