Maartje Swennen graduated Medical School at the UMC Utrecht in 2002 and has been working here as a staff member for the Executive Board. In 2004 she obtained an MSc in Healthcare Management at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. Her Master Thesis concerned the implementation of Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) and has gradually evolved into a PhD-fellowship since 2008 within the PhD Programme Epidemiology of the division Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care. Her supervisors are professor Yolanda van der Graaf and professor Cor Kalkman. Her co-supervisor is associate professor Geert van der Heijden.
Differences in doctors’ characteristics have an impact on decisions in patient care. To date, it remains poorly understood why some doctors routinely do incorporate high quality evidence into their practice, and other doctors do not. Swennen wants to describe and gain more understanding in the EBM-behaviour of diverse doctors rather than explain it. Her aim is to design a discriminative questionnaire that distinguishes between doctors who are likely to apply EBM versus doctors who are not. Triage of doctors to their specific characteristics and behaviour could progress EBM by matching the implementation strategy with the actual needs and wishes of diverse types of doctors.
Swennen collaborates with the Patient Safety Center, as both patient safety and EBM are important quality aspects of patient care and because of methodological similarities.