The shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare and social services sector is already a noticeable reality. This makes it all the more important to spark young people’s interest in these system-relevant professions at an early stage. This is exactly where the network Zukunftsfeld Gesundheit comes in – an alliance of ten regional partners with a clear goal: to introduce students to career opportunities through practical experience and to sustainably strengthen their career orientation.
Hands-on career orientation
One of the key elements of the project is a series of practical tours for 7th grade students. Instead of dry theory, the young participants experience different professional fields firsthand. In advance, they were able to choose between three different tours, allowing them to follow their own interests in a targeted way.
Tour A included visits to the training centre for social and medical professions, the Lausitzer Seenland Klinikum, and HOY-REHA.
Tour B provided insights into the Hans Sachs Vocational College and the Berufsfeuerwehr Hoyerswerda.
Tour C covered the Berufsschulzentrum Konrad Zuse and the Lausitzer Werkstätten.
Experiencing the diversity of healthcare professions
On April 23, the students immersed themselves in practical experience. This became especially clear during Tour A. At the training centre for social and medical professions, participants received an overview of various training occupations, ranging from nursing, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy to paramedic training and early childhood education.
At the Lausitzer Seenland Klinikum, they then explored medical departments such as laboratory medicine, geriatrics, and radiology. The tour concluded at HOY-REHA, where practical exercises provided direct insight into typical tasks and made the professions more tangible.
A sustainable impact for the region and young people
The combination of information, practical experience, and hands-on participation has a lasting effect: young people not only gain a clearer understanding of their interests, but also develop a realistic picture of career requirements and opportunities.
At the same time, projects such as Zukunftsfeld Gesundheit make an important contribution to securing the next generation of skilled workers in the region. They demonstrate how targeted cooperation and early exposure can help attract future professionals in the long term.
What comes next?
The participating partners will decide how the project will continue after jointly evaluating the practical tours. One thing is already clear: the approach of making career orientation tangible meets the spirit of the times and could become an important building block for the future of the healthcare sector.
