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From dispute to dialogue: building bridges with language

Discover how the interactional engine of health communication works

With a Master’s degree in Communication and Information Studies: Dialogue, Health and Society, you will have advanced knowledge of how the interactional engine of health communication works and be uniquely equipped to facilitate dialogue between a great variety of stakeholders.

You will possess in-depth theoretical knowledge of how language works in a range of health and societal settings. You will also be able to apply a set of cutting-edge methods for studying real-life communication in these settings in order to identify facilitators for and barriers against dialogue, understanding, and cooperation. 

Furthermore, you will also possess the knowledge of and skills for translating these insights to the health domain and design, monitor, and evaluate dialogue practices in this area. Additionally, you will be able to critically reflect on dialogue theory and practice and put them in a broader societal perspective. 

Unique knowledge

Upon graduation, you will have unique knowledge of how and to what purposes professionals and clients, patients and citizens act in the context of real-life conversations about health and societal issues, and how to facilitate and support these interactions.

Want to know where former students ended up? Then read the stories of Lisah van Dam, Andrei Mara and Lieve van Hengel.

What can you do after your Master's degree?

Entering the job market

After you obtained your master's degree in Communication and Information Studies: Dialogue, Health and Society, you can work at health institutes such as the Dutch RIVM, Ministries of Health, pharmaceutical industry, hospitals, hospices, addiction care, heart or cancer foundations, patient organisations, international NGOs and the WHO. There is a great demand for academically trained dialogue or conversation specialists in the health area, in their role of:

consultant
researcher
facilitator
policy maker
mediation expert
patient educator
social media editor
webcare manager
lecturer in higher professional education

Further study towards a PhD

After completing this MA programme, you can continue to do research while pursuing a PhD degree. This could be an extension of your MA thesis or a brand new project on any topic broadly related to language and health.

Three of our former students have enrolled in PhD programmes at VU Amsterdam and Radboud University:

-Lieve van Hengel is currently conducting research on how to improve child vaccination communication in populations with a migrant background with the help of community “conversation ambassadors”

-Aniek Antvelink is working in an interdisciplinary project that aims to develop new cancer screening technology using co-creation methods that involve women from categories with lowest cancer screening uptake

-Maartje Roodzant’s PhD project focuses on how empathy is conveyed and responded to in face-to-face and computer-mediated counselling and psychotherapy sessions using different therapeutic modalities

Where has the programme Dialogue, Health and Society taken us?

Want to apply for Dialogue, Health and Society?

Check the admission requirements

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