The SUSA project is leading an innovative education initiative to close the digital skills gap in Europe’s healthcare sector.
This pan-European initiative spans nine countries and aims to graduate 6,558 students and equip 660 European health professionals with advanced digital competencies.
The project offers 20 bachelor’s and 26 master’s programs, complemented by 16 lifelong learning modules.
The SUSA model is built on 20 common learning objectives, fostering collaborative, data-driven education and supporting the European Green Deal’s vision for healthier societies.
Attracting top talent to accelerate health data sharing
SUSA supports healthcare with an innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum designed for the future of healthcare data sharing by promoting interoperability, attracting talent from across the European healthcare industry, and ensuring sustainability.
At this stage, the project can present the results achieved by the various stakeholders.
Minna Isomurus, SUSA project leader at the University of Oulu, explained: “The SUSA project has already shown how bringing together teachers and experts from different countries and organizations can generate new ideas not only about what is learned, but also about how to make learning more relevant, impactful and meaningful to learners and beyond.”
European healthcare professionals need to be equipped for the digital ecosystem
The University of Oulu, coordinator of the SUSA project, is driving major changes in medical education by incorporating advanced digital skills into its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in biomedical engineering and health sciences.
This transformation will prepare Europe’s healthcare professionals of the future to succeed in a data-driven digital ecosystem.
In addition to the curriculum redesign, the University of Oulu is developing standalone modules on customer-oriented digital services in social care and digital healthcare to support the continuous learning of working professionals.
Successful development of the SUSA project to date
“Through SUSA, we are not only modernizing our curriculum, but also fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and industry to prepare the next generation of European medical innovators,” said SUSA Project Manager Corinna Uhr.
Current highlights of the project include:
European Health Data Space (EHDS) integration
Oulu partnered with Success Clinic to introduce EHDS concepts to information processing, software engineering, and health sciences students.
The training included hybrid lectures and interactive sessions on the use of primary and secondary data, supported by SUSA’s Shared Learning Experience (SLE).
A joint research study evaluated learning outcomes and provided information for future improvements.
Virtual lab for signal and spectrum analysis
Oulu, in collaboration with the University of Zagreb, launched a cross-border virtual lab with funding from the UNIC VIP Fund.
This initiative enhances engineering education through digitized exercises, task-based learning, and inclusive design, giving students practical skills and digital fluency.
Isomurus concluded: “SUSA continues to drive innovation in medical education, equipping thousands of European healthcare professionals and graduates with the digital skills they need to transform Europe’s healthcare ecosystem.”
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