Day: December 19, 2024

At the EIT Health Summit 2024, held on April 18th and 19^th in Rotterdam, the WorkInHealth Foundation showcased a dynamic range of initiatives designed to empower individuals and bridge talent gaps in the health sector. The booth featured initiatives like TalenForce, Skills Sync, and the Pact for Skills, each aimed at connecting talent with opportunities and enhancing skills through training and partnerships. 

A standout event, the Career Fair, spiked a great interest among our attendees. The last edition was organised shortly after the Summit, on May 22^nd and 23^rd, and will return in 2025 for a new edition. Click here to find out about the next edition! As it is free for participants, this move aims to broaden accessibility and empower more individuals to explore exciting career opportunities in the health sector from wherever they are. 

The Future Health HERo initiative was a major draw at the Summit, focusing on empowering and celebrating female leaders in health. Through mentorship, networking, and advocacy, the initiative shone a spotlight on women’s achievements and roles in healthcare. “This initiative not only honours existing leaders but also inspires the next generation of women to aspire and achieve leadership roles in health” explained Urška Bux, Senior Programme Manager at WorkInHealth Foundation. 

Highlighting the Summit’s spirit, Luca Perego remarked, “I’m here today at the EIT Health Summit, an amazing opportunity to also showcase what the European Union is doing for young women who want to really expose their talent”. Carmen Pauline Rios Benton also added, “Leaders should see technology as an opportunity to embrace change rather than be left behind because they see it as a threat!” Her participation underscored the Summit’s theme by wearing Future Health HERo fashion onstage, declaring, “YOUR VOICE MATTERS!” to young women in healthcare. 

The Foundation distributed 30 t-shirts and 10 jumpers featuring empowering messages, which were enthusiastically received by attendees. These messages not only fostered dialogue but also visibly demonstrated the community’s support for female leadership in health. 

Liana Shvachiy, a freelancer with the WorkInHealth Foundation, reflected on the event’s success, stating, “The response from the summit participants was extremely positive, showing a real appreciation for what we’re doing and a desire to be part of it”. 

As the WorkInHealth Foundation looks forward to its upcoming Career Fair, the enthusiasm and collaborative proposals generated at the EIT Health Summit promise a bright future for the initiatives and their participants. 

For more details on the Career Fair, Future Health HERo initiative, or to register, please visit our website. 

On 28 and 29 November 2024, the EIT Health Career Path event took place in Budapest, bringing together participants across various EIT Health programmes to celebrate their achievements and inspire their future growth in health innovation. 

Across the two-days in Budapest, graduates from the EIT Health Labelled Programmes, the i-Days finalists from 25 different European cities, the Women Entrepreneurship Bootcamp winning teams, and the EIT Health Innovators Community were able to participate in workshops and talks tailored towards building skills and knowledge surrounding the healthcare field.

The WorkInHealth Foundation had the opportunity to lead the Future Skills of Future Leaders workshop dedicated to promoting soft skills for women in the health sector. WorkInHealth Foundation Senior Program Manager Urška Bux along with Radio Embassy CEO Lenja Faraguna explored the world of skills development for women in the healthcare industry, similarly, promoting WorkInHealth Foundation’s FutureHealthHERo initiative. Young women in the health field are often overlooked and WorkInHealth Foundation knows this, which is why we created FutureHealthHERo, whose mission is to encourage leadership among women in the healthcare field. This programme further supports our objective of closing the skills gap within the sector to further the growth and sustainability of its future. 

We were also delighted to present our recent report on “Addressing skills needs in the European health sector”, co-written with the European Investment Fund. This report discusses the current skills gap within the healthcare field and the urgent need to address it in order to promote innovation and sustainability while also offering attainable solutions to these challenges. The report explores that through four main axes – anticipate, attract, train, and match – the goal of closing the skills gap can be achieved. 

During the event, our partner Amazon Web Services (AWS) joined in on the celebration of young talent by gifting Cloud Credits to the winners of the i-Days competition which brings together students from all academic areas to compete in teams to tackle real-life health challenges posed by EIT Health, local organizations, private corporations or start-ups. This year, JA Cyprus from Nicosia won the competition with their solution for efficient nasogastric tube catheter placement in patients. Their solution uses a built-in pH sensor whihc is activated by capillary actions to provide visual confirmation through acuity readings when the catheter reaches the stomamch, making insertion more reliable and painless. Find out more about the partnership between AWS and the WorkInHealth Foundation here.  

WorkInHealth Foundation is grateful to have been part of the EIT Health Career Path event this year and for the opportunity to further promote our mission of addressing and closing the skills gap in the health sector in order to enrich the image of the sector to attract talent! With every event, we aim to accelerate the future of healthcare.