After secondary school, I initially considered studying medicine, but I thought it would be a shame not to do anything with mathematics and physics anymore—my favorite subjects. I was therefore happy that the Technical Medicine program had been launched in Twente! This program prepared me for pioneering, because when I finished, a position as a technical physician in a hospital was not yet self-evident.
My PhD period, as a continuation of my graduation research in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at RadboudUMC, was enjoyable and educational (and also a very good combination with having children!). But I did not become a true academic: I wanted to have more impact in the short term. And tangible impact, rather than a high impact factor.
My fellowship in Radiotherapy at RadboudUMC was therefore a pleasant next step. Working with patients—you can’t get any closer to really making a contribution than that. I enjoyed working with my colleagues and the intersection of technology, healthcare, and innovation.
After the fellowship, I took a detour into the corporate world. Interesting, but I felt homesick for the hospital… In this way, step by step, I came closer to what suits me. By now I’ve taken a few more steps and live with my family in a small village in Friesland, and I work with great pleasure as a program manager at Revalidatie Friesland.
What I like about this position is that it is very broad. I help set the direction for developments and try to facilitate them as well as possible. Above all, it is people-oriented work: being there, listening, talking, supporting, guiding, motivating, and also adjusting my own ideas. Over the past few years, I have learned that this “soft” side of development is actually very interesting and important.
My assignment is to work on future-proof pediatric rehabilitation. My colleagues are responsible for “running the business.” That is, of course, important, but when I am at the table, it is always about our developments: “changing the business.” These are not separate, but intertwined. Because I am there, we never (for long) get stuck in the day-to-day grind.
Pediatric rehabilitation is becoming increasingly complex, because there is often more going on: medical, social, and psychological issues. We are able to do more and more, but have to take into account fewer people and less money. That is why we must continue to develop. The key to good pediatric rehabilitation in the future, in our view, lies in good collaboration, because that is how we can handle this complexity. We need to lower the thresholds between organizations and ensure that children and young people receive the care they truly need.
The first steps in this have been taken. We ensure that employees of other organizations (and especially colleagues there!) get to know each other better, and that at an organizational level it is also clear what is possible and what is allowed. Sometimes it is enough simply to know each other; sometimes it is necessary to truly shape care together, whether or not under one roof.
The willingness is often there, but organizations differ. The culture is different, the financing is different, as are the type of care and the staff. That is why I am very pleased that, with the Marina van Damme scholarship, I am able to follow the program “Directing Collaboration in Healthcare” by Zorgvisie and Nyenrode. With this, I hope to be able to lay an even stronger foundation for successful collaboration—and above all, for better care!