Health nominates three Master’s degree programmes to be restructured
Five Master's degree programmes at the Department of Public Health were in play when the faculty management team had to decide how Health would meet the restructuring requirements of the Master’s degree reform. Sports Science and Public Health Science will not be affected.
As part of the Master's degree reform, Health will be converting some of the faculty’s Master's degree programmes into either work-integrated Master’s degree programmes or short, one-year Master's degree programmes of 75 ECTS. Due to the faculty's authorisation granting programmes in medicine and dentistry, the dial once again points to programmes at the Department of Public Health.
"The faculty management team has chosen to follow the department's wishes and proposals, which are based on thorough preparatory work and dialogue with both employers and the board of studies," says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas.
Three Master's degree programmes are to convert student places
The faculty management team has therefore recommended the following to the Rector's Office, which has subsequently sent the overall recommendation for Aarhus University to Universities Denmark:
- The MSc in Nursing will be offered as a two-year Master's degree programme of 120 ECTS and as a work-integrated Master’s degree programme.
- The MSc in Health Science will be offered as a two-year Master's degree programme of 120 ECTS and as a work-integrated Master’s degree programme.
- The MSc in Optometry and Visual Science will be converted to a work-integrated Master’s degree programme.
The Master's degree programmes in Sports Science and Public Health Science will continue as two-year Master's degree programmes of 120 ECTS. Instead of being converted, the two programmes have been imposed a reduction in admissions to its academic Bachelor’s degrees in connection with the sector resizing.
"We wanted to keep both sports science and public health science as two-year Master's degree programmes, especially since they had to bear the brunt of the sector resizing," explains Anne-Mette Hvas and continues:
“I’m certain that our recommendations for the conversion of Master's degree programmes are made on the best possible basis under the circumstances and that we have, and will continue to have, a relevant and attractive educational landscape at Health.”
We are establishing a new one-year Master's degree programme
On the basis of the recommendation from the Department of Public Health, the faculty management team also proposes establishing a new one-year Master’s degree programme of 75 ECTS. The new Master's programme will be a fall-back option for students on the work-integrated Master’s degree programmes in nursing, health sciences and optometry and visual science who are unable to complete the work-integrated Master’s degree programme, for example due to loosing their job.
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas emphasises that this is still only a recommendation and no final decision has been made.
"We can’t say anything with certainty until the political process has been completed. Hopefully we’ll know what the reorganisation of Master's degree programmes will entail at the beginning of the new year, and then we’ll be able to plan the further process locally. As things stand, the reorganisation of our Master's degree programmes must be fully implemented by 2032,” she says.
Contact
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas
Aarhus University, Health
Email: dean.health@au.dk
Additional articles about the reform: "We now know the consequences of the sector resizing at Health", "We will know the consequences of the sector resizing by the end of October" and "The Master’s degree reform will affect one department at Health more than others".