Making Society Healthier

Two students in the “Public Health with Focus on Prevention and Evaluation” Master study program tell about their studies and how they would like to earn money from the general public’s health

Ten percent of workers in Germany are employed in the health care sector. Spending specifically for the field of prevention and health promotion ranks at a high level. This is also continuously increasing by international comparison, and therefore ensures the livelihood of future workers in this field. Among these future workers: Sabine Junglen and Annegret Halbach. Both students enrolled in the newly established “Public Health with Focus on Prevention and Evaluation” Master study program at the TU Chemnitz in the 2014/2015 winter semester. “Considering the aging society and changing demographic trends, the focus of our study program on preventative measures and evaluation is a future-oriented growth market, which is showing favorable development in employee numbers,” Halbach explains and continues: “People should age healthily, in order to maintain efficiency and productivity even into old age. In our studies we are learning how we can promote ideal health-related behavior and inhibit poor behavior effectively.” According to data from the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (German: GKV-Spitzenverband), more than five million people are reached annually by primary prevention measures, and this trend is on the rise.

The “Public Health with Focus on Prevention and Evaluation” Master study program is an academic study course offered by the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences at the TU Chemnitz. Students are taught core competences within the framework of a behavioral and social science-oriented education, which is quantitative-empirically-oriented in practice. Halbach is especially pleased with the breadth of the range of courses offered: “We get to know topics from many fields, in order to get a holistic view of the topic of health management. Various behavioral and social science disciplines like sociology, psychology, pedagogy and even politics have a strong influence on the course content.” But is this also evident in practical settings? “We primarily learn practical methodical skills through conceptual work for interventions in the field of health-related prevention. There, facets of the many various fields are of central relevance. At the moment we’re working on a large scale, two semester research project on the topic of pregnancy and eating disorders, which is carried out across Saxony,” says Junglen. Gathering hands-on experience is very important for the two friends in any case. Both have a part-time job, Halbach even wants to join the company full-time after she completes her studies. She has worked in the Bauerfeind AG corporate health management department for two years already in Zeulenroda, Thuringia. “The job is varied, fun and is exactly what I would like to do in the future. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to combine my studies and part time work, and therefore gather practical experience outside of the university context,” says the 29-year-old.

In all of Germany, there are still only a few universities which focus on the health sector in their curriculum. Halbach and Junglen are, along with 40 fellow students, among the first in the context of the new “Public Health with Focus on Prevention and Evaluation” Master study program to deal scientifically with health prevention questions. “The courses are well-staffed, the curriculum is not one hundred percent structured yet, but the instruction and student-to-teacher ratio are excellent,” praises Junglen. Both students completed a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Science for Preventative Exercise, Rehabilitation and Fitness at the TU Chemnitz. However, neither of the two are from the Saxon metropolis, or even from the region. “After my Abitur I wanted to experience something new and to just get away. The study content and housing market in the end convinced me to move to Chemnitz,” says Junglen, who is from Kröv on the Moselle River. She doesn’t want to go back: “I can really imagine staying in Saxony to live and work after I finish my studies. Chemnitz is a close-knit community. The student life takes place on campus and most of the time you can come across someone you know along the way. In addition, here you have comparatively strong chances at a good job.” Halbach, born in Bielefeld, has also been won over by Saxony’s charm: “I’m really satisfied with my choice of location. At the moment I live in Leipzig, and thanks to the Semesterticket, even commuting is no problem.”

(Author: Katharina Preuß, Translation: Sarah Wilson)

Katharina Thehos
11.09.2015

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