MHPE programme structure

Step 1: campus period 1 (May-June) - welcome to MHPE!

Your MHPE journey starts with three weeks full-time and on campus in Maastricht or at one of our partner sites. The core of this campus period is to provide an introduction to health professions education. Main components are a group project, workshops, trainings, and supportive reading materials.

This first campus period is also an introduction to the MHPE community. You will meet staff and fellow students during educational and social activities; get acquainted with the structure of the MHPE programme and the MHPE competency framework with eight competencies related to the roles of Educational Designer, Educational Leader and Educational Researcher. We will discuss learning beliefs and expectations of MHPE students and staff. You will meet your coach, start planning your personal curriculum path, and familiarize yourself with the electronic portfolio.

Step 2: online periods (June-April): working on the MHPE competencies 

The rest of the year is divided in four themed periods. In each period, you will work on one common learning task (mandatory), and elective learning tasks of your choice. All learning tasks are based on authentic examples and represent tasks in the field of health professions education. The online periods have general themes and most (but not all) learning tasks will be centred around this theme:

• ANALYSE an educational problem
• DESIGN a solution that contributes to solving an educational problem
• IMPLEMENT & EVALUATE to what extent the goal has been reached
• MIX of ANALYSE, DESIGN, IMPLEMENT & EVALUATE

The common learning tasks are mandatory. They will require collaboration with fellow students from all around the world. This will give you the opportunity to look across your own borders and learn with and from each other. In addition, you will be able to select a number of elective learning tasks. These tasks relate to one or more roles that MHPE graduates are likely to take: Educational Designer, Educational Leader, or Educational Researcher. You can choose to focus on one role, but also mix-and-match. Your coach will help you choose tasks that match your learning needs and interests. To graduate in two years you choose an average of two electives in each period in your first year, and one per period in your second year (when you are also working on your Master thesis). You can adjust your workload by choosing less or more electives.

Step 3: campus period 2 (May-June): starting up your thesis project

The second campus-based period focuses on the elaboration of your thesis proposal. Together with your fellow students, you learn more about research methods and work on your proposal in thesis circles, supported by your thesis supervisor. Of course, there is also time to meet your coach, discuss your experiences, and start planning the rest of your MHPE curriculum.

Step 4: online periods (June-April): working on learning tasks and your thesis project

During the rest of the year you will again work on mandatory common tasks and elective learning tasks in four themed periods (analyse, design, implement and evaluate, and mix). You select learning tasks from the same set of tasks as in year 1, but you might choose more challenging and complex learning tasks in your second year. In parallel, you will be working on your thesis project.

Step 5: assessment: developing your portfolio 

You collect your work and the feedback that you receive in your portfolio. The MHPE teaching staff will provide rich, formative feedback that allows you to monitor your own development related to the eight MHPE competencies. You discuss with your coach what you do well and which competencies you still need to work on. Together you select suitable elective learning tasks for the next period. At the end of the first year, you conduct a self-assessment and hand in your portfolio for evaluation. An assessor decides whether you have made enough progress to start up your thesis project. At the end of the second year, you perform a self-assessment again. The assessment committee will review your portfolio and self-assessment, and then decide whether you are eligible for graduation.

In order to graduate, you will have to collect evidence of sufficient performance on the eight MHPE competencies. To achieve this you will have to complete the mandatory campus-based periods, all common learning tasks, your thesis and at least 11 elective learning tasks. If you have not yet shown sufficient performance on all eight competencies, you may have to do more elective learning tasks.*

Step 6: graduation

The last step in your MHPE programme is the presentation of your thesis project, followed by a festive graduation ceremony. Congratulations! We invite you to come to Maastricht or one of the partner sites to graduate and celebrate together. This is not obligatory, though, you can also graduate at distance.

*Note: You can take more than two years to finish the MHPE program, but this has financial implications. There is a small delay fee for each additional study year. If you need more than 25% extra learning tasks to demonstrate your competency, you will have to pay the full MHPE fee again.