In each edition of our alumni newsletter, we speak with one of our alumni about their time as a student at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (previously iBMG and SAG) and what they are doing now. This time, we spoke to Fabio Mieris. He started the bachelor degree in Health Policy & Management in 2017 and followed that up simultaneously with the part-time master degree in Health Care Management in 2020. He now works through EIFFEL as interim coordinator of the enrolment team and Medical Information Office at Erasmus MC.
How did you decide what to study at the time? What appealed to you in Health Policy & Management?
I’ve always been interested in health care, but I also knew I didn’t want to become a doctor. For a very long time, I wanted to study biomedical sciences because I’m very interested in how the human body works. I was already accepted at Utrecht University, but decided to go for something else entirely. I’m someone who gets a lot of energy from connecting with people and I was missing that. Then I started looking further and stumbled upon bachelor degree of Health Policy & Management. I was able to join a tutorial at the last minute and was immediately enthusiastic. Looking back, I couldn’t have made a better choice of programme.
You are now working at Erasmus MC through EIFFEL. How did you end up there, and what was the journey like along the way?
During my bachelor's degree, I worked as a Student Ambassador. Once, for an open day, I had to be at Erasmus MC to give information about the Health Policy & Management programme. When I entered the hospital, I was hugely impressed by all the different professionals working together towards one goal: the best care for patients. I wanted to know more about this and my interest in hospitals was sparked. Soon after, I signed up as a volunteer at Erasmus MC.
After completing my bachelor's degree, I wanted to gain work experience alongside my further studies, so I chose the part-time master's degree in Health Care Management (Zorgmanagement) and started working at Erasmus Verbindt.
After graduating, it turned out time and time again that I had too little work experience in healthcare for the jobs that interested me. I decided to take a traineeship at EIFFEL and guess what? My first assignment was right here at the hospital!
What do you remember about your time at ESHPM?
When I look back on my time at ESHPM, so many wonderful memories come to mind, such as the orientation day organised by the study association and helping out during open days. But above all, I remember the lecturers who were so passionate about teaching and their areas of expertise. If you showed initiative as a student, they genuinely wanted to invest their time and energy in you, give you additional challenges, or help you consider your choice of master's degree and your next steps after graduation.
Werner Brouwer and Gijs Steinmann in particular have stuck with me. Gijs taught the elective course Value-Based Healthcare: a completely different approach to health care, which truly made me reflect as a student. Eventually, he also became my thesis supervisor. I felt it was important not just to get a good mark, but more importantly to make something that would actually benefit hospitals. With his help, I succeeded, and the research led to a publication. I’m still immensely grateful for his guidance.
In conversation with… you?
Do you also have fond memories of your time at SAG/iBMG/ESHPM that you would like to share with fellow alumni? Let us know by sending an email to alumni@eshpm.eur.nl.
