New Herning master's programme in medicine fills up at first intake

Management at the Faculty of Health Sciences followed this year's admissions to higher education with considerable anticipation.

For the first time, the faculty has offered a medical programme in which students – having completed the Bachelor's degree in Aarhus – go on to take the Master's degree in Herning, with Gødstrup Regional Hospital as their base hospital.

It was by no means certain that applicants would follow. But the interest in studying medicine in Herning appears to be there.

70 prospective students have accepted a place on the new programme, meaning the intake target was met at the very first admission round.

"I wouldn't have dared count on this at the very first intake. 70 young people have chosen a programme that will take them to Herning for three years, without being able to draw on the experience of previous years or ask anyone who has been there before them. That tells me there is a genuine interest among prospective medical students in studying somewhere other than the major university cities," says Lise Wogensen Bach, Vice-dean for Education at the Faculty of Health.

The first 35 students begin their Bachelor's degree in Aarhus in the autumn of 2026, and the remainder start with the winter intake in February 2027. During the Bachelor's degree, they will take part in activities and teaching in Herning and at SUND+ at regular intervals.

In September 2029, the first Master's cohort moves to Herning, where Gødstrup Regional Hospital becomes their base hospital.

Doctors where they are needed

The purpose of the programme is to educate doctors in the part of the country where medical coverage is thinnest.

Western Jutland is among the areas where it has been difficult for years to fill positions in general practice and at the regional hospital.

With the programme, the faculty is also responding to the Danish health reform, which calls for a greater share of treatment to take place in primary and community healthcare – at general practices, in health centres and closer to citizens.

The Master's degree programme in Herning focuses on precisely this. Students undertake clinical placements with general practitioners in Herning and the surrounding area. Teaching in general practice takes place at SUND+, a new education and health centre where students share their daily lives with nursing and radiography students, among others.

Students in Herning also have greater opportunity to specialise in general practice through elective courses at SUND+.

"We hope the Master's programme can help ensure that more doctors settle in the area. We know that many doctors put down roots close to where they studied and gained their first clinical experience. That is why it makes very good sense to educate doctors in the part of the country where the need is greatest," says Lise Wogensen Bach.

Three years to build

Three years will pass before the first Master's cohort begins in Herning.

That time will be spent recruiting teaching staff for the theoretical teaching and preparing SUND+, among other things. At the same time, the programme needs to become known among future applicants.

The work is already under way in Herning, where Torben Bæk Hansen is Course Coordinator for the Master's degree programme in medicine in Gødstrup.

"We are very much looking forward to welcoming the new students. Preparations are well under way, and students can expect a well-structured Master's programme with the advantages that small-group teaching and being part of the SUND+ learning environment make possible," he says.

Contact

Vice-dean for Education Lise Wogensen Bach 
Aarhus University, Faculty of Health Sciences
Phone: +45 25 48 85 22 
Email: lwb@au.dk

Course Coordinator, Professor, Chief Physician Torben Bæk Hansen 
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine 
Email: torben.baek.hansen@clin.au.dk