The new president, Rob Dijkstra, follows Arno Timmermans who left the Dutch College a few months ago to become CEO of a regional hospital.
Rob Dijkstra studied Medicine at St Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands from 1979-1988. After preparatory training in surgery and obstetrics, he moved to Tanzania, where he was the officer at charge at the Bukumbi Hospital, from 1990-1994. After his return to The Netherlands, he followed postgraduate training in Family Medicine, and started his PhD research on Implementing Diabetes Guidelines at outpatient clinics. He obtained his PhD, in 2004, to continue as senior researcher at IQ Healthcare, Nijmegen. In the meantime, he became a Family Doctor, in a small community of around 2500 inhabitants, near Nijmegen. In 2007, he left IQ Healthcare and moved to the Dutch College where he became responsible for Implementation - a difficult part of introducing new knowledge or procedures in daily practice.
As the new president he plans to:
- execute the recently accepted Future Vision on Family Medicine 2022
- continue to work on up-to-date guidelines,
- support the family doctor in dealing with an increased flow of (digital) information,
- pay attention to the other members of the primary health care team,
- guide the development of e-health
- work with partners in the different healthcare settings
He will keep practising part time to stay in contact with developments in daily practice.
As summarized by the chair of the selection committee: “Rob Dijkstra is approachable and brings a unique combination of scientific oriented leadership and experienced family doctor.”