Name: Rik van der Linden
Age: 28
PBH cohort: 2017-2019
Bachelor’s program: Health Sciences (Mental Health, clinical track), Maastricht University
2nd master’s program: Mental Health (adult psychopathology track), Maastricht University
Current job/position: PhD student in philosophy of medicine, at the department of Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine - Erasmus MC, Rotterdam.
But WHY: Why did you choose to follow Philosophy: Bioethics and Health at the VU? How do you look back at your studying time there?
Looking back to my youth and my time as a teenager, I think I was always interested in the bigger questions. However, at that time, I did not really think of them as philosophical questions. This changed when I went to college. In my bachelor program, I was enrolled in a minor program that was called ‘human and legal decision-making science’. The minor involved various psychological, legal and (neuro)economical topics in relation to decision-making, with much emphasis on philosophical issues such as moral and legal responsibility. This is where philosophy and ethics really came ‘alive’ for me. After this minor, I wrote my bachelor thesis on the ethics of biomedical screening and intervention of antisocial behaviour in children – a topic that has still my interest this very day. After graduating my bachelor’s, I continued with my original plan of becoming a (clinical) psychologist, by doing a master’s in ‘Mental Health’. Although psychiatry is still one of my core interests, I learned that the clinical work did not give me enough satisfaction. While seeing patients during my internship, I could not help to think of philosophical questions such as: what is or constitutes a mental disorder? Thus, whilst continuing my master’s in Mental Health, I explored my options of doing a second master’s in philosophy and/or ethics. Looking back to my time at the VU, studying PBH, I can genuinely say that it was one of the best decisions in my life. For the first time in college, I felt like I was really encouraged to think critically about everything I had learned so far. The PBH program is challenging, but also very rewarding. You get the opportunity to study with peers who are all highly motivated and bright people, and you get a team of teachers that are all on top of their game.
Pros and cons: What did you like the most about the Philosophy: Bioethics and Health program? And did you encounter any struggles?
In general, I think it’s worth to mention that the program offers a very interesting and relevant curriculum. You can really see that all courses are designed in specific ways that enables students to challenge themselves and that encourages them to study the topics they find interesting in particular. For example, in most courses you are allowed to pick your own topic you want to write about, be it with some limitations of course. If I had to choose one particular thing that I liked the most, it has to be the Oxford Winter School. In this week we visited the prestigious Oxford University, where we presented critical reviews to internationally renowned professors of philosophy and ethics. It was a very informative experience, but it was also a lot of fun! I’ve had an amazing time there together with all my peer students. Also, after the winter school, I even got the opportunity to do my research internship in Oxford, at the department of psychiatry. It was an experience that I shall never forget!
