MHPE: Looking back and going forward

During the MHPE Campus Period last month we welcomed a new cohort of MHPE students and enjoyed seeing back those who are starting up their Master thesis projects. We also celebrated our graduates, those who came to Maastricht and those who graduated at distance. We are now preparing to hand over to a new MHPE Management Team that will take over on the 1^st of September 2025.

We look back on the past years with mixed feelings: at times we were struggling to keep MHPE going through the pandemic, and we saw students and staff struggling as well. Yet, we managed to keep things going and with help from the MHPE community we even launched a fully revised curriculum during this time. The new curriculum offers flexibility as well as structure, and it aligns with SHE Research on student-centered learning, authentic learning tasks, self-regulated learning and programmatic assessment. We feel proud of this achievement, and most of all grateful for the hard work and commitment of our staff and students to make this a success. 

Of course, there is also enough to work on and further improve. We know that the new team, consisting of Renée Stalmeijer, Boukje Compen and Jimmy Frèrejean, will do an excellent job in further improving the MHPE programme. In fact, they are of course not really “new”; all three of them have been heavily involved in MHPE over the years. It feels comforting to leave the programme in such good hands. We are happy to stay active in MHPE in our roles as teachers, coaches, thesis supervisors and members of the assessment committee.

We would like to thank all MHPE staff in Maastricht, at partner sites and our external staff. Thank you for bearing with us through all the changes and new systems. We thank the MHPE Support Office for supporting the students and supporting us throughout the years. 

And finally, a word of thanks to all MHPE students: we loved making new connections - we have learned so much from you! 

Warm wishes,

Daniëlle Verstegen, Janneke Frambach, and Jill Whittingham