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Competence and career orientation in studies
Students at the Faculty are often unaware of the opportunities and options available to them in the health sciences field of work. "Whereas degree programmes such as law, medicine, journalism or a teaching degree programme, for example, provide clear career paths through subsequent traineeships, voluntary work, a trainee period or clearly defined career prospects, students of health communication do not have a clear career path ahead of them. On the one hand, this is because the job description and university education are still relatively young compared to other disciplines. On the other hand, it is due to the fact that the job market is only slowly adapting to the young professionals as a result, and thus there are profiles and occupational fields, but no clear appointments as health communicators yet. Acceptance on the labor market can therefore only be spoken of with reservations. (Online) job exchanges currently hardly show any explicit job vacancies for the field of study or the degree. With the few offers then often the health journalistic aspect or even health marketing stand in the foreground, which special authority and bases are hardly developed however in the university training of the students or sufficiently learned. Also the agency for work refers to the slow development of the occupation field ?
The students should therefore define and sharpen their own profile in the history of their studies and also deal with their individual career path and develop a more concrete idea of the profile they already have and still want to develop, which qualifications they have already acquired and still want to acquire. In the medium term, students should pursue and consolidate these findings so that career orientation through internships, for example, is goal-oriented.
- Competence Log
The Bielefeld Competence Logbook - Individual Navigator for Studies and Career is an individual digital learning and reflection space for students. It enables structured and self-reflective portfolio work to identify one's own individual competencies.
- Block seminar on career orientation in the field of health sciences
Great importance is attached to career orientation during studies at the Faculty. Through the event Career Orientation in the Health Sciences, students are given the opportunity to get to know several professional fields in the health sciences more intensively. There are also additional events, such as panel discussions, interviews with graduates and practical lectures, to promote exchange between current students and alumni of the Faculty.
The Career Orientation in the Health Sciences event is offered as a block event each Summer semester during the week of Pentecost and can be attended by students in all degree programmes of the Faculty. Further information can be found in the electronic course catalogue ( ekVV).
- Job Shadowing
Job shadowing is an individual sitting in on courses at a workplace, usually for half a day or a full day. A student accompanies an employee as a "shadow" at the workplace in order to experience typical tasks and the organization live and to gather relevant information first-hand. In contrast to the internship, the focus is not on working together, but on getting to know each other and exploring the workplace. It is intended to serve as an in-depth study of an area, not as a general orientation.
In this way, students have the opportunity to get to know the work practice from a personal perspective and to explore the job description and the central areas of responsibility. Furthermore, students can get to know potential employers and establish contacts for a later application for an internship or a job. The prerequisite is a preparatory short workshop in advance.
Job Shadowing is organized in cooperation with the Career Service of Bielefeld University. Click here for the job shadowing offers.
Advice on career orientation
Advice on skills acquisition, profile building and career orientation
Email: marina.boeddeker@uni-bielefeld.de
Phone: 0521 106-3889
- Internships in the Bachelor's program
In the Bachelor course you will complete two mandatory internships. The aim is to gain direct insight into fields of practice for health communicators ("assisting practice") through these two internships in professional fields of activity in the healthcare sector, which are to be completed during the lecture-free period. The students choose the fields of activity themselves and are supported in this by the internship exchange of possible internship providers and by the internship officer of the Faculty. In the internship exchange, students can find basic information and references to supporting offers of the university, answers to frequently asked questions, current job vacancies as well as experience reports.
Internship Counseling
Counseling around internships M11, initial counseling M23, M24
E-mail: thomas.schafft@uni-bielefeld.de
or praktikumsboerse.gesundheit@uni-bielefeld.deTel.: 0521 106-3880 (initial contact by e-mail only, please)
- Practical semester with preparatory training in the bachelor's degree program
In the fifth bachelor's semester, you have the choice of attending practical projects by teaching staff, instructors, lectures or going on a practical semester with preparatory training. In contrast to the compulsory internships, the practical semester with preparatory training focuses on conceptualizing or researching practice: students either develop a research question that they work on in practical health communication institutions or they develop a scientifically based concept that is implemented and/or evaluated during the internship. The practical semester with preparatory training thus enables the independent implementation of a research question in practice or the development of concepts suitable for practice within the framework of a longer practical contact and is intended to facilitate an entry into the professional field of health communication.