What steps did you take after graduating AUC?
With an already broad curriculum at AUC, I wanted more specificity without giving up my broad interests. After half a gap year, I went to the VU in Amsterdam where I combined MSc Health Sciences and MA Philosophy, Bioethics and Health. I appreciated the combination of health sciences, policy, ethics and health economics, which was something I really wanted to delve into. After finishing the combined master’s programme, I started a PhD at Máxima MC in Veldhoven, researching women’s health in the gynaecology department.

Looking back at your trajectory at AUC, how did it shape your current position?
At AUC, I mainly focused on the health track, which had cross-listed courses in the health sciences and public health domains. Alongside my studies, I was working in home care services, which enabled me to bring real-life examples from my clients to the classroom. Health in the broadest sense also includes societal issues, which really interested me. Through courses in psychology, nutrition and medical anthropology, I was able to add the perspective of human behaviour to my understanding of healthcare. Ultimately, I really wanted to develop this depth in the breadth of the programme.

Two things I learned at AUC that were very valuable are academic writing and critical interdisciplinary thinking. Within medicine there is simply less room for doing research in this way, where you can illuminate the subject matter from different angles.

What advice or tips do you have for students who are interested in healthcare?
It is important to understand and map the behaviour of the individual as well as larger patterns in society within healthcare. For that reason, it can help to broaden your curriculum and include courses on psychology or economics, for example. I think it is very easy to have ideas about what ‘care’ looks like, in which you might not always take the perspective of the actual person in front of you into account.

Also make sure to engage other institutions and organizations while you’re at AUC. It helps to gain practical experience by working alongside your studies, doing your capstone with a researcher at another university or doing an international internship.