This week, the participants of the first cohort of our digital health training programme “CAS ETH in Digital Health” took part in a final workshop to conclude their training. From 6 to 7 February 2023, the 14 participants and members of the teaching team of the CAS came together at the Seminarhotel Lihn in beautiful Glarus.

It has been a great pleasure to work with the cohort over the past 12 months. Kicking off the programme under Covid-19 restrictions meant that we had to delay our in-person teaching sessions from February to June 2022. While these complications now seem like a distant memory, it was still special to us that everyone was able to join the in-person workshop this week.

Over the course of two days, the participants presented the apps they had created as part of module 4 and engaged in discussions on feature development and future directions of digital health applications. Participants also shared valuable feedback on their experience of completing the programme with us (they seemed happy…). Besides teaching sessions, we also enjoyed spending time together, talking about the newest digital health tech, career plans and ways to stay in touch. Together, we soaked up the beautiful scenery on a walk through the village and along the shores of the Walensee, as well as on the restaurant’s terrace.

So while we wait on the data from the official ETH course evaluation, what will we take away from the first year of digital health training? First, the concept of blended teaching works well and allows participants to get to know and possibly move into the field of digital health. Second, don’t underestimate the power of a face-to-face setting. Be selective with when and how these meetings take place but create opportunities for additional exchanges. Third, digital health is still an emerging field and there is a desire to connect with others in this space. Part of our vision is therefore to create a Digital Health Community which our alumni will be part of. We look forward to staying in touch with this amazing bunch of people!

A big thank you to all who supported us over the past 12 months. In particular, I would like to thank our lecturers Prof. Elgar Fleisch, Prof. Florian von Wangenheim, Prof. Tobias Kowatsch, Prof. Felix Wortmann and Dr. Filipe Barata. Thank you also to our Software Engineers Fabian Schneider and Prabhakaran Santhanam for technical support and to Marc-Robin Grüner for teaching support! Thank you to the School for Continuing Education for their support behind the scenes!

If you’re interested in digital health training, you can learn more about the CAS ETH in Digital Health here. The programme starts every February and runs for 12 months part-time and predominantly online. The application window for the next cohort will open in August 2023. The course can also be booked as part of the MAS ETH in digital Clinical Research. This may be of particular interest to medical doctors and researchers. If you have questions about the course, please get in touch by emailing casethdigitalhealth@ethz.ch.

Pictured below are: the participants of cohort 1 of the CAS ETH in Digital Health.

Pictured in the preview image: the participants of cohort 1 of the CAS ETH in Digital Health together with Marc-Robin Grüner, Prof. Tobias Kowatsch, and Olivia Keller.