Sunday, May 11th, we set off with different colleagues from different Belgium hospital schools to Dublin for the HOPE Congress 2025, not knowing what flood of information and collegiality awaited us. School visits alternated with plenary info sessions, workshops, and unique testimonies. We had the opportunity to meet many international colleagues. Whereas in Belgium, as teachers in hospital education, we are an exception within the educational world, we felt at home in Dublin. Despite the different nationalities, everyone spoke the same language. It became a week full of valuable exchange, dialogue, and recognition.
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In between, we gladly used the free time to get to know Dublin, each other, and the different schools in Belgium, but also from all over the world. In our daily work, we are often focused on our own school. In Dublin, we had the chance to broaden our perspective and look “beyond the wall.” The informal moments were gratefully used. Not only were professional ties strengthened, but we also got to know some truly wonderful people. Where on Sunday, May 11th, we departed with colleagues who barely knew each other, on Friday we left with warm hearts and a backpack filled with gratitude for the enriching, unique experience we were able to share together.
We are now bringing the acquired knowledge back into our own schools, our team meetings and management. Ideas are taking shape, dialogue is being initiated, and we feel that the experience we gained is being carried into our daily work. We would like to use the gained knowledge and the dialogue to optimize collaboration between the different hospital schools and to strengthen each other. We surely HOPE to see and visit each other in the future. A big ‘thank you’ for the wonderful organisation of the HOPE Congress 2025.
On behalf of the whole group of Belgian hospital teachers at the HOIPE Congress 2025 in Dublin,
Suzanne Lamon (from Belgium)
E-mail address: suzanne.lamon@penta-connect.be
