College students get a taste of interdisciplinary research

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Over forty students from various courses at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Avans University of Applied Sciences presented their research at the Haaglanden Medical Center (HMC) at the end of their training year. The diversity of the research topics was wide, as was the composition of the research groups, which consisted of students from different courses.

They all contributed to the knowledge about the well-being of people with cancer and to the collaboration within the Medical Delta Living lab Better In Better Out. For example, research was conducted into exercise interventions within HMC Antoniushove and the reduction of health differences.

The students came from the Nutrition and Dietetics, Nursing, Skin Therapy and minor oncology courses at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The visitors - family, friends, teachers, researchers, healthcare staff and business professionals - asked the students sharp questions and discussed the students' end products.

Different courses collaborate

It certainly took some getting used to at the start, say students from the 'Evaluation of exercise interventions' group. “We came together in a class for the first time from different courses. We had to get to know each other quite quickly, so that we could then determine which research question we wanted to investigate. Any differences of opinion were quickly resolved during the project by continuing to talk to each other. We preferred to be able to express our research in graphs and tables, but with qualitative research it was quite a challenge. We also thought it was a strange idea to present our research on a poster if it has not yet been completed. Challenges that we have managed to overcome together.”

The students want to give the feedback that collaborating with various courses is nice and that there could be more variation in this. “Consider the Communication courses, Graphic design or the Technical courses to collaborate as well. This can help in conducting research and presenting our end product.”

Follow-up research

The results obtained will be followed up by asking a new group of students from different courses to work together. From mid-September they will conduct follow-up research on the results that were presented. The new results will be shown during a meeting in February 2025. The research results have been shared with hospitals and universities of applied sciences. Where further research is necessary, this will be taken up in consultation with hospitals and universities of applied sciences.

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