Traineeships
Overview
A traineeship mobility is a great opportunity to gain professional skills as part of your degree studies. It usually involves a long-term (more than 2 months) practical training experience abroad.
In general, our university does not offer or assist students in obtaining traineeships except in the fields of health and social care and on the basis of bilateral or inter-institutional agreements for traineeships at Oamk or via Oamk at third parties in the Oulu region.
Health & Social Care
If you are a student in health care and social services, please contact your home university and check whether an agreement covering traineeship mobilities exists between our universities. Please also refer to the field-specific section below. Kindly note that Oamk cannot guarantee a traineeship but we make every effort to find a suitable traineeship.
Please note that traineeships (large-scale practical training) as well as small-scale practical training cannot be guaranteed due to organisational change in the health and social care sector in Oulu as well as in Oulainen. In Oulainen, practical training cannot be offered in 2025. Places are also limited in all health and social care sectors and are usually based on university agreements.
Please consult our information below first. You or your home university staff can also enquire about a practical training / traineeship opportunity at any time. We will try to provide further information where possible.
Small-scale practical training
In general, we prefer and can only offer small-scale practical training courses in our fields of health and social care and third parties such as hospitals etc. These courses are offered only with a limited amount of places, and these are primarily targeted at our partner universities’ students wishing to come for a study exchange. Most of these courses are limited to a specific workload (e.g. 2 weeks = 3 ECTS cr depending on the field. You can only apply and pursue these practical training courses along with other professionally relevant courses from our field-specific programmes running during regular terms or special mobility periods. Enquiries about a study exchange in combination with a suitable practical training course should be directed to incoming.students@oamk.fi, and nominations and applications should be submitted as instructed.
Large-scale practical training or traineeships
In addition to small-scale practical training courses offered in the frame of a study exchange, we have a very limited amount of places and workload for traineeships at/via Oamk or third parties such as hospitals etc. Traineeships are targeted primarily at higher education students, and secondarily (and only in nursing) also at vocational education/training students from partner universities (specifically Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, MHH) holding a bilateral/inter-institutional/memo agreement covering traineeship mobilities:
- If you are a nursing student from a higher education institution, you may apply for a 2-/3-month traineeship in Oulu.
- If you are a nursing student from a vocational education/training institution (specifically MHH), you may apply for a traineeship (2 - 8 weeks) in Oulainen. Unfortunately, due to organisational changes and negotiations in the health care sector, practical training will not be available at Oulainen in 2025. We can look into alternatives, e.g. Oulu, Ylivieska etc!
- If you are a student in another field of health and social care (apart from optometry) from a higher education institution, you may apply for a 2-/3-month traineeship.
Kindly note that we can offer traineeships at/via Oamk only during our academic year, following our timeline and duration for a long-term exchange. We prefer traineeships to commence at the outset of the regular semester or mobility period in health and social care, so that you can take part in the orientation days.
If we can offer a traineeship – exceptionally – in the middle of our semester, we expect you to take part in a kickoff meeting with academic staff (supervisor/mentor) and administrative staff from Oamk in the beginning of your exchange.
You or staff from your home university can always enquire about traineeship opportunities. We will try to arrange for a traineeship at/via Oamk and tailor it in terms of content/topic and duration, and advise about the nomination and application steps (see more below). Please note that admission depends on the availability of a suitable traineeship and our departments’ resourcing for supervising/mentoring trainees at Oamk or at third parties. We prioritise higher education students before vocational education/training students, and applications based on bilateral or inter-institutional agreements covering traineeship mobilities.
Admission results will be communicated within approx. 1 month after the application deadline. Trainees are supervised/mentored at Oamk or via Oamk on the part of third parties. Traineeships consist of a programme-specific practical training course with a limited workload as well as supportive courses (outside of the traineeship hours) that have been timetabled for our terms or special mobility periods.
Oamk uses the following course to enrol trainees as exchange students at Oamk, and to provide supervision/mentoring resources on the part of our departments. The workload of the practical training course can be adjusted depending on the duration of the traineeship:
- O4323ST Advanced Practical Training (as of 2 weeks = 3 ECTS cr. See more below, “Workload examples”, and ECTS and Assessment.
We offer the following supportive and professionally relevant courses for trainees in all fields of health and social care. Kindly note that as an Erasmus+ trainee you can pursue only such supportive courses that are offered outside (!) of the traineeship hours. All of the courses below can be pursued and have been proven useful to get a good overall traineeship experience at/via Oamk:
- YY00DU55 Finnish Language 1: Survive! late afternoon implementation (3 ECTS cr). This supportive course is mandatory and can be offered, if you come at the beginning of the term or mobility period, and stay as long as the course lasts! In case you are coming at other times during the semester, please email us so we can advise about possible alternatives.
- OS00CG02 Patient Safety for Future Health Care Professionals, online implementation with independent studies in Moodle (5 ECTS cr). This supportive course may start earlier and last longer than the traineeship.
- OS00CX28 eHealth and Digital Solutions in Health Care, online implementation with independent studies in Moodle (5 ECTS cr). This supportive course may start earlier and last longer than the traineeship.
- For other suitable and professionally relevant courses, please see our field-specific programmes.
Traineeships (large-scale practical training) in health and social care must be applied to via MoveON according to our deadlines, for autumn (1st semester) by 30 April, and for spring (2nd semester) by 15 October. Late applications won’t be accepted! Enquiries should be directed to incoming.students@oamk.fi, and nominations and applications should be submitted as instructed.
In your application, please choose appropriate fields (see below!) and mention these and possible topics in your motivation letter in the order of your preference, so we can better look for possible places.
- If you are planning to apply as an Erasmus+ trainee, please check our Erasmus+ traineeship documentation with information on roles and responsibilities and instructions for devising the learning agreement. If possible, email us the learning agreement prefilled on the template of your home university as a Word file so that we can devise it along with your application and admission.
- If you are planning to apply as a trainee from a partner university in the frame of a bilateral agreement or as a visiting student/free mover, please use the document required by your home university, but also check our Erasmus+ traineeship documentation with information on roles and responsibilities. If possible, email us the learning agreement prefilled on the template of your home university as a Word file so that we can devise it along with your application and admission.
Admission results will be communicated within approx. 1 month after the application deadline. If you have been admitted as a trainee, we also provide student benefits such as a lunch discount in student restaurants and help with accommodation, if applicable. Depending on the duration and location of your traineeship, we recommend student housing in the PSOAS Routa student dormitory in the Linnanmaa area. You can also look for other housing options, of course.
If you are admitted for a traineeship in health and social care (apart from optometry), you will need to meet the relevant vaccination and special requirements before you start your traineeship. You’ll find detailed information and our checklist on our “Vaccination & Special Requirements” website.
You will also need to meet our insurance requirements, as well as any third party insurance requirements you may have. You’ll find detailed information from our “Insurance” website.
Last but not least, if you will pursue activities involving patients, customers, children or vulnerable adults, you must meet also safety requirements according to Finnish legislation.
Nursing (Oulu)
In your application, please choose three (3) fields and mention these in your motivation letter in the order of your preference, so we can better look for possible places.
- Acute Care
- Intensive Care
- Mental Health Nursing
- Paediatric Nursing
- Surgical Nursing
- Internal Disease Nursing
- Home Care
- Elderly Nursing
- Obstetric and Gynaecological Nursing
- Outpatient Care
Nursing (Oulainen)
In your application, please choose appropriate fields and mention these in your motivation letter in the order of your preference, so we can better look for possible places. The fields listed below are subject to change due to ongoing organisational change in the health care sector.
- Oulaskangas Hospital (accident and emergency department, surgical ward, medical ward (internal and pulmonary diseases), possibly operating theatre
- Health Care Centre Oulainen (accident and emergency department, possibly inpatient wards)
- Possibly elderly care homes and rehabilitation units
Other fields in Oulu
In your application, please choose the appropriate field and mention your interests and relevant skills in your motivation letter in the order of your preference, so we can better look for possible places.
- Biomedical Laboratory Science
- Optometry
- Radiography and Radiation Therapy
- Dental Health Care
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Social Services
Workload examples
ECTS credits represent learning based on defined learning outcomes and their associated workload, 1 ECTS cr = 27 hours of work. For traineeships, 1 week is counted at Oamk consisting of 40 work hours, i.e. 40/27 = approx. 1,5 ECTS cr/week. The work hours consist of the working time a student spends in a traineeship setting at/via Oamk, including also short breaks, meetings as well as preparation and reflection assignments, plans, reports and evaluation tasks etc. A traineeship is always supervised and/or mentored by Oamk’s staff. The work hours and methods can be agreed in more detail in the traineeship agreement and at the outset of the traineeship.
- 2 weeks = 3 ECTS cr
- 3 weeks = 5 ECTS cr
- 4 weeks = 6 ECTS cr
- 5 weeks = 8 ECTS cr
- 6 weeks = 9 ECTS cr
- 7 weeks = 10 ECTS cr
- 8 weeks = 12 ECTS cr
- 9 weeks = 14 ECTS cr
- 10 weeks = 15 ECTS cr
- 12 weeks = 18 ECTS cr
Other Fields
If you are a student in other fields such as agriculture, business, engineering, media and performing arts, information technology and professional teacher education, we encourage you to approach companies or organisations directly as part of your learning experience. Please refer to the sections below for more information.
A word of caution
Basic Finnish language skills are almost a must when searching and applying for a traineeship in companies or public organisations.
Of course, companies are also looking for trainees from abroad and cherish English (or other) language and professional skills.
Be pro-active and perseverant when searching for a traineeship. Use your networking skills and tools at hand. Present your skills and suitability for a traineeship in a convincing and realistic way – this is much respected by Finnish companies.
Oamk can help in acquiring a traineeship at Oamk or a third party, enroll trainees and allocate mentoring/adivising resources from Oamk normally only in the frame of existing bilateral agreements for taineeships, or Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional agreements for Erasmus+ SMT (Student Mobilities for Traineeships).
Steps to take
1) Search for a possible traineeship by means of databases.
We also recommend to check with international associations for possible traineeship positions.
If you are currently an exchange student at Oamk, you may also access our student intranet Oiva and look for vacant traineeships. Feel also free to network with teachers and RDI project staff at Oamk – it is always good to ask.
2) When contacting companies, please
- use their job recruitment or practical training portals and/or
- send an open application with a targeted and creative letter of intent (cover letter) and short up-to-date CV including your personal information, academic/professional skill profile, and possible references.
- If possible, you may also include a transcript of records with your academic study results, and a portfolio showing and giving proof of your professional expertise.
3) Once you’ve made your application, we recommend to follow-up on it by phone and email, or – if appropriate – by making an appointment and paying a visit to the HRM staff.
4) If you manage to get a traineehsip, don’t ever start it without having a proper written practical training agreement including the conditions of the traineeship and work tasks, aims, supervision and possible payment!
5) Take care of grant payment and taxation matters here in Finland, if applicable.
6) Contact your home university, if you can get a grant for your traineeship. If possible, enquire about this already before searching and applying for a traineeship in the Oulu region.
7) In case you find a suitable practical training position in the Oulu region, and if you are a student from Oamk’s partner univerity and we have a bilateral or Ertasmus+ inter-institutional agreement for traineeships, we may help you in getting accommodation and enrol you as an exchange student, as this will guarantee you the usual student benefits. Please note that this has to be decided case by case and considering our departments’ resourcing for mentoring/supervising trainees at third parties. Also, usually Oamk can host trainees only during the academic terms. Normally, your home university should also nominate you in time for a traineeship at Oamk or via Oamk, and you should submit your application by the given deadline.
If you are planning to come as an Erasmus+ trainee, please check our Erasmus+ documentation at Oamk with information on roles and responsibilities for this type of mobility and instructions for devising the learning agreement. If you are coming in the frame of a bilateral agreement, please use the documents from your home university. If possible, email us the learning agreement prefilled on the template of your home university as a Word file so that we can devise it along with your application and admission.
For further information, contact incoming.students@oamk.fi.
All the best for your efforts!