Pioneering the professional doctorate program at universities of applied sciences in The Netherlands: the case of health and well-being

A collaboration of 26 Dutch universities of applied sciences is working on the development and implementation of the first generation of professional doctoral programs. The distinctiveness of a professional doctoral program has been defined for seven professional domains, including health and well-being as an example. It is described as being an educational program in which candidates learn to intervene in complex practices. They achieve this by developing across four roles: professional, researcher, innovator, and change agent. Each individual domain has its own educational program, including a description of the curriculum, organization, and quality assurance. A core element of the program is learning from and within practice. The learning outcomes are at the heart of the program for candidates. This professional doctorate has been positioned within the international context of comparable doctoral programs. For the implementation and further development, it is important to focus on the impact of this doctoral program, the nature, scope, and extent of supporting evidence in candidates’ portfolios, and further development of the learning environment.