International Health Studies

IHS is a 20-week exchange programme aimed at improving your intercultural awareness and intercultural communication skills, making you a more rounded health care professional. An intensive internship/project is part of the program.

For international students we can offer this course in 2 different ways:

• Track 1: a 10-week/3-month course with 6 weeks of theory and 4, 6 or 7 weeks of practical work/placement, 1 week of theory/examination at the end (15 EC’s)
• Track 2: a 6-month course with 6-week theory, 10 weeks of practical work/placement, 4 weeks of theory and examination (30 EC’s)

The programme looks at intercultural (health care) models, interacting effectively with people of a variety of backgrounds and understanding culture-specific concepts of perception, thinking, feeling, and acting. In collaboration with the IHS team, you are required to secure your own internship, which has to be in place and approved at the start of the minor programme.

IHS is open to all Faculty of Health Care students. Students studying a healthcare-related topic at other universities of applied sciences (national and international) are also welcome to join, but please contact the coordinator before applying and check the information below. Please note that a motivational letter is part of the application process.

Would you like to know more about this programme or do you have a specific question? Please contact the programme coordinator: Tanja.Schaftenaar-Weyer@hu.nl.

The programme takes place during one semester (two blocks). For international students we can make a 10-week or 13-week programme (in case of Erasmus). The course structure is then reduced to only GKO-IHS1 programme (15 EC’s).

The regular programme starts with a theoretical part, lasting six weeks. Afterwards, you will leave for your project or traineeship/work experience for ten weeks or a minimum of 40 days. The programme finishes with a four-week theoretical part. All classes are on weekdays.

In our Course Guide you can find all relevant information about the programme in one practical document.

• International Health Studies

Students from partner universities can apply for this minor. They must be at minimal bachelor level (3rd or 4th year). The programme is open for undergraduate students from Nursing, Physiotherapy, or other healthcare related professions. International students are required to have proof of:

• Hepatitis A/B vaccination
• Mantoux vaccination
• COVID-19 vaccination

Nursing students who have been working in a hospital half a year before entering the placement hospital, might be requested to do an MRSA-test. 

Students who would like to participate, must be aware that arranging project/internship placement is a challenge. We are dependent on the possibilities of external partners in placing international students. Sometimes we have combination experience of 2-3 weeks in several institutes.

This means that internship placements can take place not only in Utrecht, but also in some surrounding cities. You will have to pay for your own travel expenses. Please get in touch with the course coordinator to discuss possibilities.

English CEFR level B2.

Please note: If your English proficiency proves to be insufficient to participate actively in (parts of) the courses you have chosen, we cannot be bound to the Learning Agreement, neither can we guarantee to offer you the required amount of study load (EC’s). Teachers might request you to take a diagnostic test at the start of the course to check if your English proficiency is sufficient to successfully participate in that specific course. In all cases it is up to the programme manager to decide if your English proficiency is sufficient to be eligible for the programme/course.