Nikolaus Gala completes his Bachelor's degree in Healthcare and Nursing next week, fulfilling a childhood dream.
Even as a teenager, he would have liked to take the step into the healthcare sector. The "stamp": a girl's job put him off at the time. It wasn't until more than 10 years later that he took heart, made a complete change and is now finally doing what he always wanted to do: Helping people.
"I gained experience as a medic in the army and then volunteered with the Red Cross for a few years," says Nikolaus. He had to give up this commitment for professional reasons. For 10 years, he worked as a quality manager in a mechanical engineering company and travelled a lot at home and abroad. "All that time, however, it was working inside me and at the age of 30 I finally made the decision to completely reorient myself."
Many men who work in "women's jobs" can certainly understand why Nikolaus' career choice didn't work out right from the start. "Partly my environment talked me out of it, but partly it was my own "prejudices". The boys go to the police, the girls become nurses." Today, he also wants to convey to young men that there is an urgent need for men in healthcare and nursing.
He cites the internships, of which students complete a total of 10 during their studies - each in a different specialism (acute care, long-term care, mobile care, prevention and rehabilitation) - as highlights from his time at university. "Working in an internship is varied and you can put theory into practice."
Professionally, he would like to work in an intensive care unit. Nikolaus is fascinated by the work with the technical equipment, the variety and the fact that you can work independently a lot there.
As a man, he generally feels valued and well received in the teams he has worked in so far.
With the exception of the first year, he completed his studies in "corona mode". Nevertheless, he concludes: "It was an exciting three years. Above all, I also made a lot of friends."