Members of the network
On this page youŽll find more information about who we are and what our philosophy is, where we trained, where we work, the articles we wrote and a list of courses and congresses we attended recently.
Charlotte Deen, MD, General and digestive surgeon
She speaks Dutch, Spanish, English and German
Jennet de Groot, MD, Chest physician, General and internal medicine
She speaks Dutch, Spanish, English, French and German
Victor van der Giessen, MD, Dentist
He speaks Dutch, Spanish, English and German
Wilco Grift, Physiotherapist
He speaks Dutch, Spanish, English and Italian
Our philosophy
We are convinced that good communication between patient and health care professional is the key issue for optimal health care. It leads the way in building the confidential relationship between patient and professional. It gives openness for the patient to air concerns and emotions and for the professional to understand the practical and social circumstances of the patient. The professional can also offer more appropriate and useful information, explanation and medical care. Good communication even goes further than just the language that we use as it has a lot to do with cultural background. It becomes particularly important when the medical problem is more severe.
Background
All four of us have been working enough years in Spain to be able to recognise the medical cultural differences. On one hand we try to pick up the good things and our minds have opened in a lot of ways. The implementation of new procedures is usually quicker and referral to medical specialists and access to diagnostic tests is easier. On the other hand the openness of patient-doctor communication and explanation, national implementation of approved medical protocols, interdisciplinairy collaboration and quality control is sometimes found wanting.
Quality control
Since the BIG register was started in the Netherlands in December 1995 every health care professional needs to be registered to be able to use the legally protected title.The register enables the expertise of the registered practitioners to be recognised by all. Apart from this registration board, certification is required and should be renewed every 5 years. Renovation of the board certificate can only be established if the professional can prove that during the last 5 years they have been active in their professional field and have been updating their knowledge by attending acknowledged courses and congresses on a regular base.
The Netherlands still serves as our main reference as it is a country of medical protocols based on international guidelines and scientific evidence. We aim to provide evidence based medicine. Since communication has been facilitated incredibly due to the internet, it is fairly easy for us to keep ourselves updated and share professional opinions with colleagues all over the world.