The New Utrecht School

The New Utrecht School stands for cooperation between disciplines in the training of (future) care and health professionals. Some of the activities in 2022 in terms of inter-professional and multidisciplinary education:

BITT Challenge: patient-centered solutions

In 2022 we integrated the BITT (BIO-TECH-MED NUTRITION INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TRAINING) Challenge of the EWUU alliance (Eindhoven University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, Utrecht University, and University Medical Center Utrecht) in our SUMMA master’s program as a compulsory part of the curriculum. In the challenge, students from the medical research master’s program SUMMA, master’s programs in Biomedical Sciences (UU), master’s programs of TU Eindhoven, and master’s programs in Nutrition and Health (WUR) in get together in small groups to look for patient-centered solutions for the (bio)medical, technical, and/or nutritional challenges that patients encounter due to their disease.

Interdisciplinary optional project on Nutrition and Prevention

Within the EWUU alliance, the Medical training program, in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research, has developed an interdisciplinary optional project on Nutrition and Prevention . Within existing compulsory courses, students from the various universities involved in 2022 collaborated on a class assignment on the importance of nutrition in healthcare. Many diseases can be avoided through healthier eating and lifestyle. Mutually increasing our knowledge is therefore also essential for healthier care.

Innovative Long-COVID Challenge

In October 2022 the innovative, interdisciplinary Long-COVID Challenge for Medical and Biomedical Sciences students was organized. Too little biomedical research has been done so far on the causes of Long-COVID, and no solutions have yet been found for patients. Therefore, over four hundred students of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have been called upon to think and work with us to take the research and solutions for Long-COVID a step further to finally help patients. Never before at UMC Utrecht have so many students taken part in innovative multidisciplinary education. The most promising idea that was chosen was a proposal for a laboratory study to see whether the interaction between auto-antibodies and immune cells play a role in the development of Long-COVID symptoms. The students will be elaborating this idea in 2023.

Planetary Health Impulse Team (PHIT)

In 2022, a Planetary Health Impulse Team (PHIT) was put together. This diverse team of staff members who are involved in education and sustainability was appointed to give an impetus to and integrate the topic of sustainability in program curricula. In 2023 PHIT will be working on a plan of action for each program. Sustainability was also the theme at the faculty dinner, which could take place again this year.