Dear Sir or Madam,
Dear UCAN Partners, Dear Colleagues,

We are very pleased to invite you to a multi-day conference in March 2026 in the founding city of Heidelberg on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the “Umbrella Consortium for Assessment Networks (UCAN)”. The anniversary event is being held in cooperation with Heidelberg University Hospital and the Heidelberg Medical Faculty.

What began in 2006 at Heidelberg University Hospital and the Heidelberg Medical Faculty as a joint initiative to advance medical examinations has, over the past two decades, developed into the world’s largest academic assessment network in medical education, postgraduate training, continuing professional development, and the healthcare sector. Today, UCAN comprises more than 100 partner institutions from seven countries, including universities of human, dental, and veterinary medicine, healthcare professional institutions, other specialized and educational professions, as well as cooperation partners such as chambers and associations.

A central goal of this collaboration has been, and continues to be, the joint development of fair, practice-oriented, and competency-based assessment content and formats in healthcare education, training, and related educational fields.

Current challenges in healthcare and professional fields—including demographic changes, skills shortages, digitalization, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence—require continuous development of curricula, assessment formats, and quality concepts.

In this context, examinations play a special key role: they are not only instruments for performance evaluation but, in the sense of a positive assessment culture, also important factors for personal competence development, curricular guidance, and individualized feedback for students and learners.

The multi-day conference provides a shared framework to explore these topics from different perspectives, reflect on existing approaches, and discuss future developments.

Programme

• 23–24 March 2026 – Workshop on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) with Prof. John Norcini and Prof. Ara Tekian (English)

• 25 March 2026 –  Pre-conference: “How can we strengthen the resilience and health of children and adolescents in times of crisis – who takes on which role, and how do we assess the necessary competencies?” (German)

• 26–27 March 2026 –  Main Conference: “20 Years of Competency-Based Assessments – Experiences. Developments. Perspectives.” (German)

We would be delighted to welcome you to Heidelberg in March.

With kind regards from Heidelberg,

Prof. Dr. Jana Jünger (MME), Prof. Dr. Hans-Christoph Friederich, PD Dr. med. Fee Klupp (MME), Prof. Dr. Dr. Markus Ries (MHsC), Dipl.-Inform. Med. Konstantin Brass