Continue to pursue the successful path of academisation in the future!

"The transfer of non-medical healthcare professions to universities of applied sciences (UAS) almost 20 years ago was a pioneering step. In light of today's challenges in the healthcare sector, we in Austria can count ourselves lucky to already have so many highly trained graduates in these professions," said Ulrike Prommer, President of the Austrian University of Applied Sciences Conference (FHK), on the occasion of World Health Day on 7 April.

From 2006, the training programmes for medical-therapeutic-diagnostic (MTD) healthcare professions, midwifery, music therapy and qualified healthcare and nursing (DGKP) were transferred to Bachelor's degree programmes (Bachelor of Science, BSc) at the FH/HAW. This has created a system in which people without a school-leaving certificate but with relevant professional experience, people from the previous system or people from upstream training programmes have a permeable higher education and career path in the healthcare sector. The population benefits greatly from this, as the transfer is associated with an increase in competence and authorisation.

"Academisation has meant that we are better cared for today, as the range of services offered by midwives, physiotherapists, dieticians, etc. has expanded. On the one hand, this has relieved the burden on doctors, but above all it has enhanced the professional image of the non-medical healthcare professions," emphasises Prommer.

In times of an acute shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare professions, the attractive degree programmes offered by UASs are an important key to attracting more young people to this career path in the future. The FHK is therefore in favour of transferring even more relevant specialist training courses, such as emergency paramedics, to the FH/HAW.

In addition, the UASs must be granted the financial means to offer subject-specific Master's programmes for the further development of the professional field. This would again lead to an expansion of expertise and thus relieve the burden on the healthcare system even more.

The FH/HAW programmes in the health sciences:

There are currently 10 UASs throughout Austria offering degree programmes in the field of healthcare professions. Around 11,000 people are currently studying in this field, with around 4,000 graduates per year. In 2023, around 400 research projects were assigned to this field.