What can you build on top of? Post and further education
From skilled to specialist academy education or nurse
One of the best things about becoming a social and health assistant is that it opens many doors. You can choose to stay on the floor and improve there, you can specialize, or you can use the education as a springboard to further health education. You don't need to know everything from the start — many build on it as they discover where their passion lies.
§Specialization and short courses
The first step is often to specialise where you work. There are special training and further education courses within, among others, psychiatry and dementia, where you gain deeper competencies in a particular field. In addition there are the labour market courses (AMU), which are short, practice-oriented courses you can take on an ongoing basis — e.g. in medicine handling, wound care, documentation or citizens with complex courses.
- 01Specialized training, e.g., in psychiatry or community nursing
- 02AMU courses – short, targeted skills development
- 03Internal training programs at your workplace
- 04Courses in welfare technology and documentation systems
§Academy and diploma track
As a skilled person you can take further education at academy and diploma level alongside work. A business academy education in health practice is an example of a course that builds on your experience and can typically be taken part-time over a couple of years. It gives you both deeper theory and access to tasks with more responsibility – for example as a team leader mentor or coordinator in a department.
§Further to nurse
If you want to go further to a professional bachelor's degree, nurse is the most obvious path for many. As an assistant you can in several cases get credit for parts of nursing education because you already have health knowledge and practical experience. This can shorten the course. You can also go toward related educations as a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, clinical analyst or social worker if you meet the access requirements.
§Choose your path
There is no fixed sequence. Some specialize first and study further later; others go directly towards nursing. What is important is that the education as social and health assistant gives you a solid foundation — regardless of which direction you choose from there.
“Your education is not a ceiling — it is a staircase you decide yourself how far up you want to go.”