1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Jessica Coetzer and I have just finished my PhD at the Athena Institute! I am originally from South Africa, but I have lived in the Netherlands since 2019 after moving to do my masters in Global Health here at the VU. I have had a bit of a roundabout journey through academia, starting with medical school, leaving that to start a Bachelors of Science in Occupational Therapy in Cape Town, then moving to the Netherlands for my masters,  a brief side-quest working in HR for a large NGO and now finishing my PhD.  

2. Can you explain your research in a few sentences?
My research explores the increasing role of technology in healthcare in the Netherlands, and what this means for people who are at a distance from the online world. Digital health technologies can be amazing, but we also know that they can be a major driver of health inequities. By working with many different actors across the healthcare system, including people who experience digital exclusion themselves, we have collectively explored ways of improving the inclusiveness of our digital healthcare system. Most importantly, these solutions lie in transforming the system rather than expecting individuals to adapt to technologies that are usually not made with them in mind.  

3. What is this we heard about ‘zines’ in your PhD?
I am glad you asked! For one of my chapters in my PhD I chose to do what is known as an “alternative chapter”. Because so much of the work we do in our department (and in my project) focuses on real-world impact, we can include examples of these socially oriented research outputs in our thesis. For my thesis, I have dedicated a chapter to zines: a series of mini, activist magazines that we have made which provide tips on how to make our digital healthcare systems more inclusive. We (my supervisors and I) collaborated with a bunch of different systems actors to make the zines and will share them throughout our broad actor network. I will also be sharing them in the printed version of my thesis, along with a sort of valorization chapter/rationale explaining the academic and societal purpose they have. I highly recommend other PhDs explore the potential for alternative chapters in their own work! 

4. You are now done with your PhD. What is something you wish you had known early on in your journey? 

Make sure your references are in order from the start! I just spent over 24 hours trying to find the DOIs for the over 400 articles I have referenced, just because the downloadable citations from Google Scholar did not contain them. I would not wish that on anyone. One thing I am extremely glad that I did was still make time for my social life and hobbies outside of my PhD. Protecting your weekends is so important. It is also completely normal to go through patches that feel less busy, and patches where everything feels like a whirlwind—so embrace the downtime when you have it. 

5. Any last thoughts as our outgoing chairperson of the PhD Council?
It has been an absolute privilege to serve on the board of the PhD council over the past 3 years. Balancing the council and my PhD has been much easier than expected. Having something else to focus on besides my own research, that also makes me feel more in control of my experiences as a PhD at the VU, has been such a gamechanger. Thank you to the policy advisors, PhD council members, and most importantly my fellow board members, for being a part of this wild ride!