Health Promotion Specialist

The Tallinn University Haapsalu College Health Promotion Specialist curriculum offers a professional higher education, resulting in achieving good theoretical starting points and practical skills. The percentage of internship is 30 ECTS, usually accumulated at one of the college partners (for example: National Institute for Health Development, Ministry of Social affairs, municipalities). The purpose of this curriculum is to ensure the required education for heal promotion specialists, and to enable to successfully fulfil different tasks in the public health sector and in the health policy sector. Students can also choose the nutrition counsellor direction, which means that 30 ECTS will be subjects that directly support nutrition counsellor related competencies, including successfully passing the nutrition counsellor’s professional examination.

Who are we expecting?

We welcome students who have an interest in managing health promotion in individual, organizational, county or state level. Thanks to cyclical learning, Haapsalu College enables also a working adult to become a student. Courses take place mostly over a week, two days in a row. Such a flexible approach also supports conducting practical studies.

Why Study at Tallinn University Haapsalu College?

The development of Estonian Health Promotion field presumes positive changes in the environment so that healthy choices could be more easily accessible. Changes can be guided through personal or organizational health behaviour and health programmes. Our learning process is closely combined with Haapsalu College's Competence Centre in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation activities, which also provides options for practical studies. In addition to the previous, your internship can be carried out in different national and private sector health promotion agencies. There is a possibility to carry out parts of studies or the internship in foreign colleges.

Health Promotion Specialists with a professional higher education degree can work in public or in private sector organisations. On the other hand, several alumni of the specialty have started their own businesses providing health promoting services, including consultancy about nutrition and training.

Learning environment that supports specialty acquisition

The applied nature of college curricula supports participation in various projects including international projects. As the field of health promotion is constantly changing in Estonia, the college has to keep up with the changes in society while developing a curriculum. This is why we have implemented Interreg Central Baltic programme major project (4 years) with partners from Finland Metropolia university of applied sciences and Haapsalu Vocational Education and Training Centre. The aim of the project is to update our curriculum with ten new courses. The project will be over by 2020, which means that many of our future students will get benefits out of it.

TU Haapsalu College is a member of the International Safe Community Network, and in 2015 the college was deemed a support centre. The college holds the role of advisor for communities, county governments, organisations and companies regarding the field of injury prevention. An annual health conference is held in Haapsalu during the springtime in cooperation with students and partner universities (University of Tyumen, Nord University).

Important facts

• Level of study: professional higher education
• Duration: 3 years
• Language: Estonian
• Number of study places: 22