From a Master of Science to Advanced Practice

You’ve earned your Bachelor's degree and now you are itching for more knowledge, more complex cases, enhanced skills, a leadership role, or even an academic career. If this is you, explore the possibility of a Master of Science in your health care profession.

After the Bachelor's degree programs, which have been taught at universities of applied sciences for only 15 years, consecutive Master's degree programs began to be developed: In 2010, the federal government approved two Master of Science (MSc) programmes: one in Nursing and one in Physiotherapy. They were followed by the MSc in Occupational Therapy in 2013 and the MSc in Midwifery in 2017.

In 2017, the ZHAW School of Health Sciences partnered with the University of Zurich to start offering a PhD programme for the health professions.

The needs of hospitals and rehabilitation clinics

Cantonal hospitals are not alone in seeking to recruit nurses with a Master of Science degree to further develop their care services and the quality of their services. A Master’s degree is frequently required for anyone with a managerial role. Valens Clinics, for example, state: "We are keen to continuously advance our therapies. To do this, we need therapists who have a holistic way of thinking, can work scientifically, and are able to ask the right questions to solve complex problems. Professionals with a Master of Science are, in our view, better qualified to do this than Bachelor's graduates."

A Master's program teaches students the competencies needed for evidence-based practice by enabling them to transfer research knowledge into their practical everyday work. Graduates are able, for example, to review established interventions in terms of their benefits and develop them further. They can develop new treatment concepts on the basis of scientific findings or make informed decisions in complex scenarios. In this way, they promote advanced practice, which ultimately benefits patients.