intersHips in futurE hospitALs

<< Background >>The shift toward outpatient care and remote monitoring challenges university hospitals in providing high-quality clinical internships. As hospital stays shorten, students risk reduced hands-on experience, making it crucial to develop new learning methods.Through the HEAL project, we addressed these challenges by:Innovating clinical education – using simulation, structured reflection, and interdisciplinary training to enhance learning.Ensuring relevance – aligning internships with modern healthcare needs across different settings.Promoting sustainability – embedding best practices into long-term training models.Empowering students – fostering self-directed learning and peer collaboration.By developing adaptable, high-quality internship models, the project ensures students are well-prepared for real-world healthcare challenges​<< Objectives >>The HEAL project aims to support European Health Policy by ensuring a sustainable healthcare system through high-quality education for future doctors and nurses. It enhances “Future Hospitals” by equipping staff with modern teaching methods while ensuring patient safety.The project's goal is to develop, test, and propose an innovative internship framework that integrates traditional hospital training with blended learning, peer learning, simulation, and online teaching.The HEAL project addressed co-creation by involving students in planning their learning, fostering trust in new approaches, and ensuring they receive an equally—if not more—effective education.<< Implementation >>The HEAL Project has implemented its five key phases:Setting the Scene – A needs assessment identified key challenges, opportunities, and barriers in integrating innovative learning methods into traditional hospital internships. A scoping review systematically gathered existing knowledge on innovative medical education methods, highlighting both obstacles and enablers.Development – Based on these insights, we developed the Innovative Framework, a structured process model guiding students, educators, and internship coordinators through planning, implementation, assessment, and evaluation. The framework fosters collaboration, dialogue, and co-creation to ensure high-quality internships.Testing – Local projects were used to develope the framework, which was tested through real-world internships, with at least 60 students from each participating country. Each hospital developed a tailored testing plan in close collaboration with key stakeholders.Evaluation – During the testing phase, we implemented an evaluation process using predefined success criteria, questionnaires, and focus group interviews to measure effectiveness and impact.Conceptualisation – Based on evaluation feedback, the framework was refined and finalized, incorporating policy and implementation strategies to ensure long-term integration into medical education.<< Results >>The HEAL project has developed five key results:Needs Assessment – Through co-creation workshops with medical and nursing students, teaching staff, and internship coordinators, we identified key needs, opportunities, and challenges. This ensured that the Innovative Framework (IF) was designed to meet end-user expectations. Scoping Review – A systematic review provided an overview of innovative teaching and learning methods, identifying barriers and enablers for their integration into blended learning internships. The findings informed the IF, selecting the most relevant methods to complement traditional internships.Innovative Framework for High-Quality Internships – The IF was developed as a process model enabling students, educators, and coordinators to co-create structured, high-quality internships. It was tested across all participating countries with at least 60 students per country, using a double-loop learning process. By project completion, the local projects leading to developing the IF had been thoroughly evaluated and the IF stands out as a scalable model for blended learning internships.Implementation and Evaluation Report – This report documented the testing phase in each country, covering the implementation process, framework quality assessment, and student learning outcomes. A total of 2 × 4 internship cycles per country were conducted, involving at least 60 students in each, providing a strong evidence base for further adoption.Policy and Implementation Recommendations – National policy recommendations were developed to support the integration of the IF into official health education programs. At the European level, recommendations contributed to the Sector Skills Strategy and Skills Pact for the Healthcare Sector, ensuring the project’s impact extended beyond its initial scope.