The Dual Student Program in Action - How CGM Builds Tomorrow’s Experts in Software Engineering

When you are young and want to start a successful career, the smartest move is to join a successful company - and to learn directly from the best professionals. That’s exactly why CompuGroup Medical launched the Dual Program in Germany almost 10 years ago. It was created with one powerful mission: to offer young talents the opportunity to work during their university years in real projects, explore different departments like Software Engineering or AI (and other study programs in the future), and travel the world through CGM’s international business units - all while continuing their studies. 

It’s not just an internship. It’s a launchpad. Through this program, students gain hands-on experience, build an international network, and receive continuous mentorship from experienced professionals. One of the highlights of the program, besides the monthly trainee salary and access to our senior professionals for the entire period of studies, is the opportunity to spend one month working in a different CGM location somewhere across the globe. 

In 2016, Leonie Christen joined CGM as an apprentice in Office Management, starting her career in the dental systems team, where she worked in order processing. After 1,5 years, she moved to Group Functions to continue her apprenticeship as an assistant in the Corporate Support Service Product & Development area. By early 2019, she had completed her apprenticeship, became a team assistant, and officially joined the Corporate Support Service (CSS) team. But Leonie didn’t stop there - driven by determination and a genuine passion for growth, she pursued training in project management, advanced to the role of PMO Professional, and later became the personal assistant to Frank Brecher, one of CGM’s most respected leaders and legends, who dedicated 27 years to the company. After several formative years working alongside Frank, Leonie is now stepping into a new chapter: as of May 2025, she is the Team Lead for Junior Talent Management. 

“𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔… 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘.” That’s Leonie’s recipe for success. And you can see her face shining when she is speaking about her job. 

Now, Leonie and Laura Bracht from her team are in charge of the Dual Program. And when the time came to choose an international destination for one of this year’s Dual Students, she didn’t hesitate – definitely CGM Software Romania, The Center of Expertise for Software Development in CGM.  

Meet Philipp Schlaus, the CGM Dual Student Software Engineering who got to spend a whole month at CGM Software Romania. He is 22 years old (oh, the sweet years of youth), he is from Urmitz (10 km away from Koblenz), and he is in his 3rd year of BA, studying Software Engineering at Koblenz University of Applied Science. He has been doing athletics since he was 6, he has been a scout since he was 10 years old, and he loves sports, fishing, chess, cycling, hiking and technology. 

Philipp got the passion for technology from his father, a Full Stack Developer working for a sweets company in Germany. When Philipp was 8 years old, his father was trying to explain to him what he does at work. So, after showing him the computer and the code lines, he gave him a gift for better understanding: his first Python book. Not a regular gift for an 8-year-old boy, right? But his father knew that Philipp had what it took to be a great programmer. He liked it immediately and started to learn programming. He also liked the flexibility of work that his father had, the benefits of working in programming, and the impact of the code lines. He knew from that moment that technology and programming were his career path. 

Then, everything came naturally. He went to a bilingual high school, where he devoured computer science, math, physics and sports. He knew that this was the right path. And he also knew that he had to do more than university studies if he really wanted to succeed in this field.  

So, even before applying to university studies, he first applied to CompuGroup Medical, because he wanted to be part of the Dual Students Program. He had heard many good things about the program, and he knew that it would definitely help him in his career. Besides all the benefits, he was most attracted by the international opportunities that the program offers, the great number of technologies within the company, and the proximity to both home and university. 

He first applied in 2021, and in 2022 he started the long-awaited program. After 3 years in CGM, he continues to enjoy the benefits, not forgetting a minute how grateful he is for 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔: visiting international locations, helping at organizing important events, learning about AI and all the new technologies, having the best laptop, the direct access to all the senior specialists within the company and all the fields, the digital infrastructure of the company, the flexibility, the people who are always amazing and true mentors, the monthly trainee salary, and, of course, the modern office buildings, from the bistro to the gym with personal coaches.  

When the time of choosing a business unit for his international visit, Leonie suggested him that he should go to CGM Software Romania – The Center of Expertise for Software Development in CGM.  She knew the vibe and the people here, and she was totally convinced that we would take good care of him. And so, we did. 

From 2nd of June until 4th of July, Philipp worked in our business unit in Iași, Romania. He didn’t know anything about the city, so he was happy to discover a place that he wouldn’t normally pick to go to. You can’t go to a place if you have never heard of it, right?   

During his university years, he learned all the major technologies, from JavaScript to Java. But now, in CGM, he is focusing on C++ and QT frameworks. So, who to be the perfect mentor for him if not our master in C++, Daniel Cantoreanu, from Praxisdienst project? 

„𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒. 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙. 𝑂𝑛 𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘, ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤.” – Philipp Schlaus 

But he didn`t work only with Daniel and the Praxisdienst team during this month in Romania. He was in all teams’ meetings, discovering one by one all our projects and the amazing professionals here in Romania. He was in talks and presentations, and he simply loved especially two of them, because he is thinking of these two options for Master: the Artificial Intelligence one with Eduard Bosnea, C# and TL on TEO, and the Cybersecurity one with Viorel Lupu, Team Lead & Application Security Engineer. He even participated in our technical events and competitions, enjoying not only the technical challenges, but mostly the vibe and the people.  

He speaks highly of everyone in Romania, appreciating every little second spent here and every little talk with the Romanian CGMers, knowing how insightful it is for both his personal and professional growth.  

„𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝐺𝑀 𝑆𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑜𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑜𝑦 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟, 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛. 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.” 

When he wasn’t at the office, Philipp tried to get the best of the city. He took long walks, visited museums, attended festivals, went to swimming pools (the hot weather here isn't quite his favorite), and he tried lots of local foods. He admits that it is not quite the best food for dieting, but it is so delicious. He even jumped onto trains and traveled to Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca for the weekends. After visiting all these major cities in Romania, he declares that Bucharest is the best place to party, Cluj-Napoca is perfect for the traveling experience and Iași seems the best for living. 

When we asked him what he missed the most during this whole month in Romania, Philipp answered a little nostalgic: the German food and the local bakeries, the sport club, the weather and, of course, his family and friends. 

As his CGM chapter in Romania closes, Philipp takes home not just tech skills and memories, but some life-changing insights: 

• Always say yes to opportunities - you’ll figure out the rest as you go.
• Trial and error can be a great strategy - just keep the risks in check.
• Don’t stop at what’s in your job description - go the extra mile. That's how you'll truly make a difference.

Leonie summed it up best: “𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝐺𝑀’𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑡𝑦 - 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦.” 

𝐀𝐭 𝐂𝐆𝐌, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 - 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 - 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. 

We believe in curiosity. In questions asked at lunch tables. In mistakes that teach. In senior colleagues who pause their day to help a junior one grow. We believe in energy, passion, and the transformative power of that first opportunity. 

Philipp came to Romania with curiosity and left with confidence. And somewhere, another young mind is just now picking up their first Python book. Maybe they’ll be the next Dual Student. Maybe they’ll build the next healthcare solution. Maybe they’ll be the ones choosing their next destination. And we are welcoming all at CGM Software Romania – The Center of Expertise for Software Development in CGM.  

Because at CGM, we don’t just prepare for the future - we grow it here. And we don’t just hire talent - we grow it, mentor it, shape it within the best business units and teams across the world.