Medicine
Have you always been fascinated with the idea that you can help improve people's health? Are you curious, with good interpersonal skills and can you work well in teams? Then a bachelor's in Medicine at Maastricht University might be the right thing for you. Our bachelor's programme takes a hands-on approach from the onset; you'll come into contact with patients early on in your studies. Additionally, you'll take skills labs, where you practice medical skills with (and on) your fellow students and simulated patients, and acquire other practical skills, such as delivering bad news. After the bachelor's programme, almost all students continue on to do a master's in Medicine. Once you have completed the master's programme, you'll be ready to work in a hospital as a resident physician, during which time you'll be trained as a specialist. It will be easy for you to find a good position after you graduate, because the Dutch numerus clausus system ensures that the number of graduates do not exceed the number of doctors needed in the country.
Why this programme?
The bachelor's in Medicine addresses topical themes such as obesity and ageing. You'll encounter real-life problems from your very first day. You'll begin by acquiring different medical and practical skills in the Skillslab. Already in year one, you'll practice with, and on, your fellow students. Additionally, you'll train other skills you'll need as a doctor, such as conversation techniques. How to handle an emotional response of a patient? You can practice this on a simulation patient (an actor who acts that he has a certain disease).
Practice-oriented
One of the most distinguishing features of the bachelor's in Medicine at Maastricht University is that it is practice-oriented. You start out practicing on fellow students and dolls; for example, you learn how to inject on a fake arm, and you do a physical exam on another student. Your contact with patients will initially be of an observational nature. As the programme progresses, you'll gain more responsibility towards patients. In your second year, for example, you'll do a 4-day 'care internship' in a nursing home to get acquainted with 'real' work in healthcare. In your third year, you'll spend time in outpatient clinics.
Career paths for doctors
Medical care Once you begin working as a 'non-specialised starting physician' in the healthcare system, you'll often start out as a resident physician for a number of years, meaning you are training as a specialist in your chosen field. Your residency lasts between two and a half to six years, depending on the speciality. Once your training is finished and you are a specialist, you are fully responsible for the patient care you administer, typically in a hospital or a clinic. But you can also find work without becoming a specialist. If you work in an academic hospital, you work as an employee of the hospital. In a general (or district) hospital, you form a partnership with your colleagues and are actually an entrepreneur within the hospital.If you go for the two and a half-year specialisation in tropical medicine, you can choose to work for organisations such as Doctors Without Borders.
Contact
Maastricht University
phone: +31 (0)43 388 5798