Petra van Gurp appointed Professor of Patient participation in education and training

4 June 2026

Internist Petra van Gurp has been appointed Professor of Patient participation in education and training at Radboud university medical center / Radboud University. Her work focuses on the role of patients in the education and training of healthcare professionals and on how patient involvement contributes to the professional and personal development of students.

During her residency in internal medicine, Petra van Gurp discovered the importance of patient input in medical education. Not only because of patients’ knowledge about their illness, but especially because of insights into how they live with their condition, cope with uncertainty, and what their needs are. Patients offered her, in addition to that of clinical educators, a complementary perspective on what constitutes ‘good’ patient care. This experience marked the beginning of her professional commitment to patient participation in medical education.

Healthcare is changing. New technologies such as AI, limited resources, and a shortage of healthcare professionals call for new ways of working. At the same time, the role of citizens is evolving, with people taking increasing responsibility for their own health. This has consequences for collaboration between healthcare professionals and patients. ‘We need to move towards an equal partnership, in which patients actively contribute and take ownership of their role,’ says Van Gurp. This also means educating future healthcare professionals with this mindset.

As a professor, she aims to initiate and implement effective, innovative, and sustainable patient participation in healthcare education. She develops initiatives serving as a bridge between patient care, quality of care, and education and training, in co-creation with patient representatives and based on research into effectiveness, barriers, and success factors.

Patients, persons, and relationships in healthcare 

Van Gurp focuses on the scientific basis for patient participation in healthcare education. The central question is how students can best learn from patients, for example how to build and maintain a professional relationship. It is known that patient participation in education enhances empathy and communication skills and contributes to professional identity formation. However, we still lack sufficient insight into how this works in practice, what students, faculty, and patients need, and whether it improves healthcare.

She looks beyond patient-centered or person-centered care. ‘In my current research, I'm exploring relationship-centered care: care in which a patient and healthcare professional are equal partners, both indispensable, who understand each other and work together to find an appropriate treatment plan.’ This requires education that centers the relationship and teaches students how to connect with the person behind the illness, one that recognizes diversity among patients and gives healthcare professionals hte space to be themselves.

Taking the next step in Nijmegen 

In recent years, Radboudumc has invested significantly in this form of education. Van Gurp has combined two previously separate learning courses, “patient contacts” and “professional development” into a single integrated program. During their undergraduate curriculum, students meet many patients, allowing them not only to gain knowledge but also to learn who the patient is, what he or she is going through, and about the patient's needs. 

For example, education for students of Biomedical Sciences, which was delivered in collaboration with people with reading and writing difficulties, led to new insights and professional development. Van Gurp explains: ‘Students became aware of their ‘academic bubble’. Written text does not work for everyone, especially when it's full of all those difficult words that seem perfectly normal to healthcare professionals and scientists. Students will remember this lesson for the rest of their careers.’

However, there is still room for improvement. Diversity among participating patients remains limited. ‘We see that it is mainly highly educated men who find their way into education. That is not a true reflection of society, even though that is precisely what is essential.’ She is considering the development of a ‘patient academy’, where faculty can easily connect with a diverse group of patients who want to contribute to education and can find a role that suits them.

Clinical clerkships 

In the coming years, Van Gurp aims to further embed patient interaction in the Master of the medical school curriculum. Clinical clerkships are currently focused primarily on applying medical knowledge and skills, but they also provide opportunities for in-depth reflection: maintaining awareness of the person behind the patient, the person behind the future healthcare professional, and the relationship between the two, while the student is assessed on clinical performance.

In a recent project within the master’s program in Quality and Safety in Patient Care, each student engaged in a conversation with a patient about ‘resilience’, both that of the patient and of the healthcare professional. This led to meaningful, in-depth conversations and a great deal of mutual understanding. ‘That is exactly why we do this,’ Van Gurp concludes. 

Career 

Petra van Gurp studied Medicine in Nijmegen, specialized as an internist, and earned her PhD on the role of the sympathetic nervous system in the development of complications in people with diabetes mellitus (dissertation title: Sympathetic Nervous System Activity and Diabetes Mellitus). As an internist, she was closely involved in the establishment and activities of the Institute for Quality and Safety in Healthcare. From there, she brought the focus on quality of patient care into the Medicine and Biomedical Sciences programs. She played a key role in developing the three years undergraduate course Professional and Personal Development and Patient Contact (PPO&P) for (bio-)medical students. 

She received a Comenius Fellowship for her innovative educational work and became a member of the Comenius Network initiated by the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO). She is Chair of the Patient Participation Working Group of the Dutch Association for Medical Education (NVMO) and received the Radboudumc Penning in 2024. She continues to work as an internist, as learning with and from patients continues to surprise and inspire her. Her appointment as professor takes effect on 1 June 2026 and has a term of five years.

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