The Eurecat technology centre has built a digital platform to help train healthcare professionals which has 19 modules and three specialised courses to foster the use of innovative tech in key healthcare areas by blending social, technical and digital skills.
These training modules have been developed as part of the European e-Hospital4Future (eH4F) project designed to enhance cooperation between healthcare organisations across Europe in upgrading the capabilities of professionals in the industry.
eH4F is an EU-funded project coordinated by the Porto School of Engineering (ISEP) involving 10 institutions (six technology centres and universities, three hospitals and one public health institution) for the purpose of joining forces to unlock knowledge sharing and improve skills relevant to the current situation in this sector.
Eurecat’s Training Department has developed the digital infrastructure needed to run the project internationally. This has involved designing and rolling out an open, accessible, multi-channel learning environment which has made it possible to publish 19 standalone courses in English and a range of training activities.
Furthermore, in 2025, the platform will host the translation of a selection of training courses into seven languages (English, Spanish, Danish, Italian, Latvian, Norwegian and Portuguese) to broaden the reach of the content generated during the project.
The training modules cover key present-day issues, such as healthcare and digital tools, to teach industry practitioners how to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to make them more efficient while also enhancing their social skills and decision-making abilities in today’s workplace.
This holistic approach meets “the emerging needs of the healthcare sector by investing in flexible, modular training tailored to the challenges of a constantly changing environment which are essential for practising in the present and shaping the future of healthcare education and practice,” says Almudena Abengozar, a project manager in Eurecat’s Training Department.
Eurecat’s Digital Health unit has also created four of these specialised courses with the goal of “training healthcare professionals to deal with the challenges of a dynamic and changing sector,” comments David Marí, Eurecat’s Digital Health Director.
The modules “address several pivotal areas in healthcare, such as automated support for clinical decision-making, patient monitoring, digital triage and the transformation of long-term care,” adds Luis Marte, a Eurecat Digital Health researcher.
This content has additionally been validated through two pilot programmes at two leading facilities in Vall d’Hebron Hospital and Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital.
In partnership with PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hasselt (Belgium), Eurecat has also designed three structured training pathways covering topics ranging from personal and social skills to using artificial intelligence in clinical settings with a total length of 28, 42 and 90 hours.
The initiative is intended to “connect continuing university education with the learning ecosystems of healthcare organisations, knowledge transfer which Eurecat considers crucial for gaining skills that can be applied in the technology setting,” points out Almudena Abengozar.
Eurecat’s involvement in the e-Hospital4Future (eH4F) consortium “is closely aligned with the most critical and transformational priorities in contemporary healthcare training, from the integration of digital innovation and immersive learning environments to the development of essential social skills and strategic decision-making capabilities,” comments David Marí.
This is a “shared commitment to equipping healthcare professionals for a future which will be both technologically sophisticated and deeply people-centred.”
