intersHips in futurE hospitALs

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 exp...

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.

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.