How do health trends emerge? How do you encourage physical activity? How do you prepare society for a pandemic? Today, 10 new, interdisciplinary Erasmus MC minors are launching. In these programs, students will collaborate on social and sustainability issues such as these. Gert Jansen, minor coordinator: 'This aligns perfectly with the strategic direction of Erasmus MC, the EUR, and Erasmusarts 2030.'
All university students take a so-called minor as part of their bachelor’s program. This is a cohesive course of study that allows students to broaden their knowledge or delve deeper into a specific subject. Starting this year, EUR and Erasmus MC will offer only broad-based minors. Gert Jansen, minor coordinator at Erasmus MC: 'These minors are linked to health issues in society and align perfectly with Koers28, EUR’s strategy, and with Erasmusarts 2030.'
Working with Stakeholders
Some examples of minors include “Facts and Myths” (about health, trends, and science), “Health Through Sports and Exercise,” and “Preparing for the Next Pandemic and Disaster.” For example, students work on:
- Debunking health myths as future professionals.
- Case studies in which they learn how to contribute to creating an optimal environment for individual health promotion.
- A group project on a pandemic or disaster for a stakeholder.
In all projects, students learn to take various stakeholders—such as healthcare institutions or municipalities—into account. A complete overview of the Erasmus MC minors can be found here (in Dutch).
Interdisciplinary
Thanks to this change, students from other universities, such as TU Delft and Leiden University, can integrate more easily. The students collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner, thereby gaining exposure to different perspectives. In this way, we are increasing the focus on interprofessional collaboration, as outlined in the Erasmus MC strategy document. “Our education challenges students to critically examine knowledge by engaging with other perspectives, insights, and disciplines.”
From 10 to 20 weeks
“This was a very large project,” explains educational specialist Tanja van Kempen. “It was already very difficult to reduce our large number of minors to just 10. The minors have also become twice as long. As a result, there is less time for traditional subjects in the third year of Medicine. Fortunately, all the teaching teams have managed to develop effective competency-based minors that give students ample room to grow. We’re looking forward to the start this coming September.”
