In each edition of our alumni newsletter, we talk to 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 Judith Reiff-de Groen, a student from the very first hour of General Healthcare Studies (Studierichting Algemene Gezondheidszorg; SAG). She started her studies in 1982 at age 21, after completing her HBO nursing programme. In 1986, she obtained her diploma.
What kind of work are you doing now and what did you do previously?
After graduating, I started work as a consultant at Twijnstra Gudde (now Twynstra Gudde). I then moved to the other side of the table, as care manager. Eventually, I became an administrator. Until 1 January 2022, I was Administrator of a National Centre for Elderly Hearing Impaired (Landelijk Centrum voor Oudere Doven) in Ede. Now, I am totally focused on supervisory work, and I sit on three supervisory boards (in the health sector and the social domain).
Why did you choose General Healthcare Studies at the time?
My initial plan was to become a midwife after getting my first diploma. A friend then found an article about this new study programme and felt it suited me. During my internship during my HBO nursing degree, for example, I was continuously seeing things that could be done differently, better, in the organisation. This study programme focused a lot on organisational processes, quality of organisations and quality of healthcare. This suited me: my graduation project was also along those lines, as was my consultancy work. It also helped me later in my job as a manager and administrator.
How did it feel to be part of the first group students for this study programme?
It felt very experimental. There were a lot of opportunities which you could take advantage of. In the fourth year, for example, I did my graduation project in collaboration with a fellow student. Together we wrote our thesis about the merger of two hospitals in Deventer. The course has developed a lot over the past forty years. Then, we had two 2-3 hour tutorials a week. These were given by the founders of the study programme (Jan Moen, Ruud Lapré and Johan Mol) and a couple of other lecturers. We did four courses in a year and took four examinations.
People from many different disciplines were attracted to the programme, such as working physical therapists, nurses, former medical students and 18-year-olds who were starting their first degree. There were also many older students who had jobs alongside their studies. That was easy to do in those days. It was a very mixed and fun group. Many of them already had work experience, so the tutorials were very lively and interesting because the students could also share their knowledge and experience.
Everyone from that first group contributed to the further development of the programme and which benefited at least those in the second, third and fourth year of the programme's existence.
Jan Moen, Ruud Lapré and Johan Mol were the three initiators of that programme. They were real pioneers. They were the founders of this study programme in Rotterdam. In Nijmegen, you had Nursing Sciences and Maastricht offered Health Sciences. The word science appealed less to me, but I was attracted to working with those organisations. By initiating this study programme, they really filled a gap which they felt was missing in healthcare. We all immediately found good jobs after graduation too.
How do you look back at where healthcare was then (and the policy and management around it) and where it is now?
Healthcare has changed enormously over the past forty years - you see it in the courses that were given in those days. I had a course about the RIAGG (Regional Institution for Outpatient Mental Healthcare), but that doesn't even exist anymore. The entire legislation surrounding it has undergone huge changes. For example, the Exceptional Medical Expenses Act (AWBZ) has gone, but we now have the Long-term Care Act (Wlz).
Healthcare is one of the most dynamic specialist fields, which is constantly changing. That's why we are continuously looking for ways to improve and maintain the quality of healthcare.