Our society is an ageing population and services in the health and care sector are therefore also becoming increasingly diverse and challenging. This in turn heightens the need for academically educated professionals who are capable of independently identifying problems and developing professionally appropriate solutions, for example by putting new research findings into practice. This opens up many career paths for you, both at home and abroad. The combined Bachelor's degree is aimed at individuals training in the fields of speech therapy, nursing and physiotherapy who are registered with one of our partner schools. Lateral entry for career changers with a shorter period of study is also possible if you have already completed training in one of the fields.

Quick facts about the course
• You will obtain the academic Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.)
• This is a modular course.
• Phase 1 of the study programme is delivered at the partner schools and in block teaching at the university itself, while phase 2 is undertaken during full-time, face-to-face attendance at the university.
• The standard course length is six semesters.
• A total of 180 credit points are earned through the course.
• Credits obtained at another university shall be recognised as long as the scope and contents do not deviate significantly. Any equivalent skills and qualifications obtained shall be recognised as up to one quarter of the university course.
• We do not require you to pay tuition fees. As with any university, you only pay a semester fee for your semester ticket and other services. This fee currently stands at 320 euros. You may receive a refund for part of the fee under certain conditions.
• The course is offered annually, commencing in the summer semester.
• Course places are allocated according to a points system.

What awaits you
The course includes profession-specific, interdisciplinary and cross-professional teaching and learning opportunities, because work in the health and welfare system also requires knowledge from other scientific fields such as education, psychology, law and business administration. However, it also encourages critical thinking, thereby allowing you to expand your personal horizons. Following graduation, you will be able to apply a scientifically justified approach in your respective professional field and interact with other players across the health system.

The course is offered to three vocational groups:
• Speech therapy: You will expand your knowledge of speech therapy and your practical skills through which to investigate and treat a range of speech, language, voice and swallowing disorders. Learning a scientific approach enables you to transfer knowledge from theory to practice. To find out more about the occupational profile of a speech therapist, for example, visit the careers page of the Federal Employment Agency.
• Nursing: The focus here lies on the fields of health and nursing care, paediatric nursing care and care for the elderly. You will develop a trained eye for issues of nursing practice and you will learn to support individuals in their living environment on the basis of a scientifically sound approach. To find out more about the occupational profile of a nurse, for example, visit the careers page of the Federal Employment Agency.
• Physiotherapy: You will deepen and expand your physiotherapy expertise in the areas of posture and the locomotor system, as well as motor skills and control. With the help of scientific studies, you will answer questions from theory and practice, in order to then implement them in the everyday practice of physiotherapy. To find out more about the occupational profile of a physiotherapist, for example, visit the careers page of the Federal Employment Agency.

The course consists of two phases: During the first phase, the focus lies on deepening and broadening the vocational school learning content. This phase takes place together with our partner schools. The courses at our university are organised as block courses. The second phase consists of three semesters and takes the form of full-time, face-to-face attendance exclusively here at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences.

Your option to specialise
During the second part of your degree programme, you will gain more in-depth knowledge in one of three elective areas:
Research and practice: This concerns deepening research methodology: You will learn to evaluate research results and individually apply the findings. This will subsequently enable you to work in the therapeutic team on an equal level. From the summer semester 2022 onwards, the elective course will be referred to as "Research and practice". This is simply a name change, the content will remain the same.
Education: You will gain basic teaching and moral instruction-based knowledge for application in the planning and formulation of learning situations and performance assessment, which are in demand both in healthcare teaching establishments and in the practical tuition of trainees.
Management: You will learn about topics including the business processes and organisational structures in hospitals, medical practices and other institutions in the healthcare system, as well as what is important in management and human resource development in this field.
Three Master's degree programmes at our university build on the Bachelor's degree programme. These serve to deepen knowledge in the elective area of your choice.

What you should bring with you
You should know beforehand: We are a cosmopolitan university and we welcome people of all religions as well as those of no religious denomination. Vital is that you share our humanistic values. To qualify for this degree programme, you should also satisfy a number of formal requirements:
• You require a university entrance qualification that qualifies you to study at a university of applied sciences in Rhineland-Palatinate.
• This is a training-integrated course and you must therefore be a pupil at one of our partner schools . You will submit your application directly to your respective school.

The study programme is also open to career changers - the requirement for this form of entry is completion of a three-year training course in the corresponding profession. After receiving your application, the examination board will decide on entry to a later semester.