The Institute of Health Sciences was founded in February 2020 and unites the Departments of Physiotherapy, Midwifery, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy under one roof. This merger reinforces the interprofessionalism that was already actively practiced before. The research interests of the Institute are diverse. They range from basic research on mechanisms of diseases requiring therapy, clinical-therapeutic intervention research and person-centered care to teaching and learning research. Another focus is on systematic professional development in the respective disciplines, including the establishment of scientific professional societies and the establishment of joint higher education policy advocacy groups. Interfaces with other institutes in COPICOH exist through joint research interests in the topics of digitalization in healthcare and health services research.

A central concern of the Institute is the promotion of young scientists. Since 2016, high school graduates have been studying physiotherapy at the University of Lübeck, followed in 2017 by the primary qualifying study program in midwifery and in 2018 by the additive study program in speech language therapy/occupational therapy for graduates of vocational colleges who wish to obtain an additional academic degree. Meanwhile, courses are regularly planned and carried out jointly in specific areas of health care such as orthopedic or neurological rehabilitation or pediatrics. These seminars enable students to jointly reflect on diagnostic and therapeutic processes for different clinical care situations and to use the synergies of the respective professional competencies for an improved quality of care. Members of the Institute are also involved, together with representatives of other COPICOH institutes, in the planning and implementation of courses in the consecutive interprofessional Master program in health care sciences at the University of Lübeck. The Institute’s interprofessional doctoral colloquium enables students to enhance their methodological competencies in qualitative and quantitative research.

More information about the Institute of Health Sciences can be found here.