How you diagnose problems — systematically
From basic course to qualified social and health assistant — step by step
If you want to be a social and health worker, you go the classical path for a vocational education: you alternate between going to school and training at a real workplace — typically in home care, at a nursing home or at a day and activity center. The idea is that you learn the theory at school and use it right away with real citizens and that you take questions from everyday life back to teaching. This makes the education very practical and you get paid in the large part of the course.
§The basic course — your start
Basic training is divided into two: basic course 1 and basic course 2. If you come more or less directly from 9th or 10th grade, you normally start in basic course 1, which lasts about half a year. Here you get a taste of the main area Care, health and education and find out if the direction suits you. If more time has passed since you left primary school, you can start directly in basic course 2.
Basic course 2 for social and health assistants lasts about 20 weeks and is where you are directed towards the trade. You work with topics such as communication, rehabilitation, health promotion, disease prevention, welfare technology, collaboration, conflict management, ergonomics and hygiene. You also take the first aid and fire certificates that come with it. The basic course is completed with a basic course test, which you must pass to be able to continue.
§Main course — where you become skilled
The main course begins when you have a training agreement with an employer — almost always a municipality. The course alternates between training at the workplace and several school periods. The professional committee describes that the ordinary main course lasts 1 year and 2 months, and that it contains approximately 17 weeks of school spread over at least three school periods. The rest of the time you are in training and learn the trade in practice. At school you work, among other things, with care and support, medical science, documentation, rehabilitation, and the core subjects that belong to it.
§Duration and alternation
If you count basic training 2 and main course together, the total education lasts about 2 years and 2 months. The important thing to understand is that school and practice deliberately alternate, so you can constantly combine theory and reality. This is one of the strengths of vocational education: you don't just have book knowledge, but have tried it with real customers before you finish.
| Part 1 · The trunk | Approximate duration | Happens |
|---|---|---|
| Basic course 1 | Ca. ½ år | School |
| Basic course 2 | Approx. 20 weeks | School |
| Main course | 1 år og 2 mdr. | Alternates between training and approx. 17 weeks of school |
§Admission and access requirements
To enter basic course 2 you normally must have passed Danish and mathematics with at least grade 02 on average from primary school's leaving exam, or otherwise meet the level. To start the main course itself you must have passed basic course 2 — with Danish at D-level and natural science at E-level — and you must have a training agreement with an employer. The agreement is your ticket in: without it the main course cannot start.
There is only one specialty on the qualification — social and health assistant — so you do not need to choose a direction along the way. In return the trade opens many doors afterwards including further towards social and health assistant.