The aim of the ‘2get1care’ project is to test the European credit system for vocational education and training in health care professions in the German Region of North Rhine-Westphalia. A European partnership will develop an approach for making qualification components transferable across national borders and across professions. In the long term, the project aims to support the implementation of ECVET in health care professions. 

The operative framework for the test will be provided by: a scientifically evaluated adaptation of the training curricula of four health care professions (occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and geriatric care) to ECVET standards; the development of a common core curriculum; and a further training concept based on ECVET principles for teaching staff, i.e. with a focus on learning outcomes.

• Horizontal mobility: There are restrictions on credit transfer and shortening of training programmes due to specific regulations in the field of healthcare professions.
• Vertical mobility (permeability): There are certain permeability arrangements already in place (such as accreditation of VET programmes by higher education institutions), and only up to 50% of non-academic prior learning is recognised in higher education programmes.
  

In an initial step, the project described the training curricula of four health care professions (occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and geriatric care) in units of learning outcomes (structured as knowledge, skills and competence). Furthermore, a common core curriculum for these professions was developed alongside a further training concept for teachers, both which were based on ECVET principles. Units of learning outcomes are seen as ‘training components’ (components of curricula) and are developed for

• The training curricula of four health care professions (occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and geriatric care);
• A common core curriculum for these professions;
• A further training course for teachers for enhancing their competences in relation to learning outcomes orientation and competence based teaching and learning.

The structures of the current curricula were used to identifying units of learning outcomes. To identify the components of the common core curriculum the recommended training regulations and the legal basis for the occupations were both analysed. Common as well as specific elements of the four health care professions were defined. The common learning areas were used to design units of learning outcomes.  The common core curriculum forms only a small part of each of the four training programmes and not all parts of it can be found in all four training programmes, some are only relevant for two or three of them.
The development of the curriculum of the training course for teaching staff is based on: existing training courses (of which some are already described in terms of learning outcomes); on interviews with teachers and headmasters; and discussions with training providers; and finally on the objectives defined in the 2get1care project. The most important issues were selected by experts and were then defined as units of learning outcomes and allocated to six learning fields.
From the perspective of health professions, the formulation of clear learning outcomes (specifying the level of complexity and the context in which an action is carried out) is the clearest and most direct added value of ECVET. Learning outcomes can be used as a reference point for both the design of adequate assessment and for teaching and learning methods thus enhancing the quality of education and training in this professional field.

• Fachhochschule Osnabrueck (University of applied sciences, DE) 
• Fachhochschule Bielefeld (University of applied sciences, DE)