The Maastricht University Master of Health Professions Education

• In Event: 34.039 - Building Research Capacity in Health Professions Education: Practices, Challenges, and Future Directions for Degree Programs

Abstract

The Maastricht University Master of Health Professions Education (MU-MHPE) was first offered in 1992. From the outset, it was a distance education program to enable participants to apply their newly acquired insights in their own working environment. It is a Master of Science program centered around 21 intended learning outcomes aimed at understanding and application of theories and research methods, and acquiring skills to analyze, design, and implement curriculum interventions in the domains of learning, instruction, assessment, evaluation, organization, and leadership in HPE. MU-MHPE offers 12 courses, including two campus-based courses in Maastricht, to be completed over a period of two years of part-time study. The following three principles guide the program.

First, the program is strongly research-oriented. The interrelationship between educational theory, research, and educational practice is continuously emphasized. The master’s degree is embedded in the Graduate School of Health Professions Education (SHE), which features an outstanding educational research program focused on learning environments and assessment. The program is mainly run by SHE staff. The MU-MHPE requires participants to continuously use theory-based insights in dealing with authentic educational problems. There is a strong focus on acquiring academic skills in all parts of the program. Students wishing to pursue a career in research receive additional training in quantitative and qualitative research at a more advanced level. Several graduates enroll in the SHE PhD program and have been awarded a PhD degree from Maastricht University.

Second, the program is explicitly internationally orientated. The MU-MHPE attracts an international group of professionals from a variety of educational, professional, international, and cultural backgrounds. Participants acquire international and intercultural skills and knowledge, which prepared them for careers in a globalizing world in an international community of health professions educators. The strong international orientation also can be seen in the number of international partner institutions. The MU-MHPE is proud to collaborate with Suez Canal University in Egypt, the Universities of British Colombia and Western Ontario in Canada, the Academy of Medicine Singapore, and the New York University School of Medicine. Each partner school delivers several courses characterized by their contextual strengths and flavors. These collaborations aim to further professionalize and build a network of HPE experts worldwide.

Third, the MU-MHPE focuses on innovative learning environments. There is a strong emphasis on self-directed learning and use of authentic problems as triggers for learning, which enables participants to apply what they have learned in their own professional situation and see immediate results. There is also a strong focus on collaborative learning in which students from various professional, international, and cultural backgrounds collaborate, provide peer feedback, and gain insight in each other’s working environments while collaborating on their assignments. Participants furthermore receive extensive qualitative feedback from teachers and are guided and supported by a personal mentor.

Directions for the future include optimizing the potential of our international collaborations in terms of curriculum development and improvement, student and staff exchange, and intercultural learning. We aim to offer an international, flexible, and personalized curriculum for future leaders in HPE worldwide.

Authors

• Renee Stalmeijer, Maastricht University

• Janneke Frambach, Maastricht University

• Diana Dolmans, Maastricht University