Biography

Judith van de Kamp is a medical anthropologist and assistant professor Global Health Education at the Julius Center for Health Sciences, UMC Utrecht. She is a senior lecturer (SKO) and the coordinator of various global health courses at bachelor and master level at UMC Utrecht and University College Utrecht (UCU). She is author of the Dutch book ‘De derde wereld op je cv’ (The third world on your resume) for Dutch adolescents with an interest in working in LMICs.

Judith is passionate about teaching on health equity and justice, and about building strong institutional educational curricula that allow for students to grow an intercultural and open mindset to tackle complex health challenges, both in The Netherlands and abroad.

Research
Van de Kamp received her PhD at the University of Amsterdam, focusing on power dynamics and relationships between teams of international health professionals working in LMICs. Her work touches upon Industrial White Savior Complex, intercultural competences, power and privileges, public and hidden transcripts, colonial mentality, (im)personal authority and hierarchy, different perceptions on the practice of medicine and the role of donations. She is currently focusing on implementing findings on the institutional level, by building equitable international partnerships, both in the context of students’ International Medical Electives (IMEs) as well as with professionals in various international universities and academic hospitals. This includes researching the best possible strategies to build and strengthen these partnerships, in transdisciplinary research together with staff and students in international partner institutions. She has worked extensively together with Dr. Seye Abimbola who was the Prince Claus Chair (2020-2022) and continues to work with him and others on equity and justice principles in global health. Her research is strongly connected to and embedded in her education.

Education
Van de Kamp teaches on global health in historical context, saviorism and power dynamics, anthropology, health differences between and within countries (including The Netherlands - #globalhealthathome) and equitable/ethical communication on global health and humanitarian assistance. She is an expert in developing and implementing innovative didactic concepts in global health education, including decolonization of education and research, Community-Engaged Learning (CEL), Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), Interdisciplinarity and systems thinking, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Virtual International Collaboration (VIC) projects together with students in universities abroad.

Next to teaching at Utrecht, Judith provides training and workshops for health students and professionals with an interest in going abroad at other universities, both in The Netherlands and abroad. She is involved in a number of side activities (see below).