Quinten de Coo completed his Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences at ESHPM in 2015. After graduating, he did a Master’s degree in Business & Management at Trinity College Dublin.
What kind of work did you end up doing after completing your studies?
“I went into consultancy straight away, and have now worked at PART Zorg for five years. We provide interim and project management to organisations active in fields such as elderly care and hospital care, and to health insurance companies.”
Can you tell us a little more about your work as a consultant?
“I have two different types of duties. Three days a week I serve as a manager and focus on operations management with the other members of the management team. The remaining two days of the week I conduct projects on behalf of clients. All members of our management team conduct such projects to keep a feel for the healthcare system and be better able to supervise employees.”
What kind of projects are you currently working on?
“At the moment I serve as the manager to HVO-Querido’s project management team. HVO-Querido helps people in vulnerable situations regain control of their own lives and be a proper part of society. For instance, they help homeless people, substance addicts or sex workers. It’s a great organisation to be part of for a while.”
“Prior to this I performed an analysis for the GPs of Huisartsen Eemland, to help them determine how they can keep providing high-quality emergency health care after hours and on weekends, despite demographical trends and the challenging situation in the labour market. In a nutshell, we looked at what will change in the region in the next five years, and what kind of innovations or new methods will help them continue to be able to guarantee high-quality care after hours and on weekends.”
Why did you choose to study Health Sciences at the time?
“I first studied psychology for a year, but found the degree programme far too theoretical and too far removed from professional practice for my taste. So I started looking at other things, such as business administration, which attracted too many students for my liking. The small-scale and multi-disciplinary nature of Health Sciences at ESHPM appealed to me. I benefitted tremendously from this degree programme, both in academic terms and on a more personal level. I shared homes with my fellow students and made friends for life. Some of us still go away for the weekend together every year. A few former fellow students even attended my stag night.”
“I went into consultancy straight away, and have now worked at PART Zorg for five years. We provide interim and project management to organisations active in fields such as elderly care and hospital care, and to health insurance companies.”
What are your fondest memories of your time at ESHPM?
“I was an exchange student in Finland, where I did a minor at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. I had a really great time. At the time, Finland was the only country offering minors we could do. Now students can go to universities in other countries as well, which I think is good. I also served as a teaching assistant to Martin van Ineveld, in which capacity I taught business economics to first-year students doing Bachelor’s and pre-Master’s degrees. I learned a lot from that. I also really liked the degree of variety in my degree programme. I enjoyed looking at challenges from the points of view of sociology, psychology, business administration and public administration. What I did miss by the end of the Bachelor’s degree was cold, hard business administration, which is why I ended up doing the Master’s degree in Business & Management in Dublin.”
Do you have any fond memories of your lecturers?
“Absolutely! Marleen de Mul served as my thesis supervisor. That was a rather intense process, so we got to know each other quite well. Looking back, we were ahead of the curve with our video calls. We conducted several meetings on Skype when I was in Finland. Marleen also wrote a letter of recommendation for me for my Master’s degree in Dublin, which went some way towards my being accepted. I’m still grateful to her for that.”
In conversation with… you?
Do you have fond memories of your time at SAG/iBMG/ESHPM that you’d like to share with your fellow alumni? If so, please contact us at alumni@eshpm.eur.nl.