From November 2022 to June 2023, Erasmus University Rotterdam hosted the first edition of the course “Strategic Thinking and Development for Health and Care Regulators”. This course was specifically targeted at governmental regulatory authorities that regulate, inspect, and oversee health and/or care providers and/or professionals.
In collaboration with the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision, the English Care Quality Commission, and the Dutch Health & Youth Care Inspectorate, an academically grounded and practice-oriented curriculum was developed.
A total of 24 participants from 9 countries completed the course in the first week of June and received their certificates. The represented countries were the Netherlands, the UK, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Finland, Belgium, and myself from Portugal, representing the Portuguese Association of Liberal Professionals (self-employed).
My feedback was very positive, both regarding the course content and the networking opportunities with international colleagues.
The eight-month pilot course, taught in English, utilized a mix of face-to-face and online sessions.
A next edition will be available and I highly recommend it to those interested in health regulation issues.
I hope this project will have an impact in my country, where there is currently no possibility for the public to have reliable information on the qualitative and quantitative compliance of continuing professional development by each health professional.
I would like to extend special acknowledgements to all my colleagues, inspectors, and leaders from different European regulatory organizations, as well as Professors Ian Leistikow, Einar Hovlid, Anne Margriet Pot, Jan-Willem Weenink, and Victoria Howes. They truly embraced and applied the Erasmus University motto, “Making Minds Matter.”