In 2018, Dirkje started her Bachelor's degree in Medicine at Maastricht University. During the internships in the Master of Medicine program, she became aware of the many challenges faced by both patients and the healthcare system as a whole. This led her to shift her focus and pursue the Master's program in Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management at Maastricht University. Her Medicine thesis explored the organization of multidisciplinary team meetings in elderly care and the implementation of shared decision-making in these meetings. For her Master's in Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management, her thesis focused on how teamwork and communication can be effectively taught to medical students. By combining a medical background with knowledge in healthcare policy, innovation, and management, Dirkje is able to further explore her interests in the organization of patient care and in improving care delivery to better meet patients’ needs and wishes.

• Biomedical Ethics
• Shared decision-making
• Patient centred care
• STS

• SHARED-VSC project