Name: Lisah van Dam
Age: 24
DHS cohort: 2021-2022
Bachelor’s programme: Psychology
2nd Master’s programme: Social, Health and Organisational Psychology
Current job: All round communication employee at Stichting School & Veiligheid (School and Safety Foundation)
Why did you choose Dialogue, Health and Society at VU Amsterdam?
I already finished a master’s in Health Psychology, but I still wanted to learn more about communication in the health area. This master was a perfect combination between the master I already completed and my interest in communication. One of the things that caught my attention in the description of DHS was that I was going to read and learn about vaccination, and how, for example, one can have a dialogue with someone who does not want a vaccination. How do you show that you understand the perspective of the other person, whilst also trying to give that person information about the importance of vaccination?
How do you look back on your study time there?
With a lot of joy. I learned a whole new skill, which is how to study conversations in great detail. I also learned how incredibly complex and rich communication between people can be.
What did you like best about Dialogue, Health and Society? And did you encounter any difficulties?
One of the things I liked most was that we were with a small group of students, which made it possible to get good guidance from the teachers and to really get to know everyone who participated in the master’s track.
What was your favourite course, period or groundbreaking insight while studying Dialogue, Health and Society?
I should say that was my master's thesis. For my thesis, I studied conversations between Dutch Surinamese and Caribbean women and gynecologists about cervical cancer. As this was oftentimes perceived as a taboo within their culture, it was interesting to study how they talked about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccination. And it also felt good to be able to give recommendations to physicians about what to pay attention to if they want to increase HPV vaccination rates within this group.
