My name is Kirby Weerink and I am 25 years old. I studied the bachelor nursing at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. After graduation I decided to get a master's degree. I realised I loved my work as a district nurse but I came to realize that I was more interested in policy technology and management as well. In my bachelor I studied a Minor at the University of Twente and the study experience was perfect: we had smaller classes, the teachers were easily approachable and a good campus with all necessary facilities for students.
About the pre-master
The pre-master education started directly after graduation. In addition to following this pre-master, I worked as a nurse for 16 hours a week. This was quite a stressful combination, but I was glad that I could combine my knowledge as a nurse with the master experiences. In the pre-master I followed courses such as Statistics and lessons about research skills: something I missed in my bachelor and what was necessary for me in the master.
About the master Health Sciences
Every Health Science student followed the same courses in the first semester: courses about different kinds of researches, health economics, Excel skills and big data (an increasingly important part of the current healthcare system) were offered. In the second semester we had the choices between 3 tracks and I chose ‘Personalised monitoring and coaching’. The main focus was how eHealth-technology can contribute to healthcare by personalised monitoring and coaching. The research process of eHealth was a central part in this master track as well. In line with my chosen master track, I chose to do a graduation assignment for an external organisation called ‘Transfore’, which treats forensic psychiatric patients. While performing an external assignment you are part of a team and you are in contact with therapists and patients as well. My assignment was about Virtual Reality as a treatment in the forensic healthcare setting.
At the end of my research internship in the organisation I applied to a job as a psychiatric nurse. So now I am focusing on my nursing skills in the forensic psychiatric setting. For the future, I can hopefully use my skills gained during the master's Health Sciences for a teacher job or advising and improving the policy in an organisation.
More information?
Feel free to contact us at health-sciences@utwente.nl