Jos van der Hage is Professor of Surgery, in particular intra-curricular education in Surgery and a member of the Division 1 board of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Furthermore, he is a member of the board of the European Society of Surgical Oncology Education and Training Committee (ESSO ETC), a European association dedicated to advancing the science and practice of surgical oncology for the benefit of cancer patients.

More information about Jos van der Hage

Surgery

As a surgical oncologist, I am involved in the treatment of patients with breast cancer, skin tumours such as melanoma and so-called soft tissue sarcomas. The combination of these pathologies is remarkable in that sense, since breast cancer is a very common condition whereas soft tissue sarcomas fall into the category of rare tumours. To both patient groups, I strive to devote maximum effort by providing optimal clinical care, conducting scientific research into these diseases and educating the new generation of doctors about this topic. By all means, this is not something I accomplish by myself, but together with my colleagues within the LUMC and beyond.

Education

In addition, I work as a Professor of Medical Education. Within this function, I aim to advance the education for students of Medicine as well as for students with a clinical-technological background through the improvement of scientific research. We attempt to test new innovative ways of research, such as 3D learning, at a level where we can discern for which student it is useful, but also for which student it may not be useful. As part of the Education Expertise Center, we are able to properly conduct this type of research due to a broad field of educational experts.

Research

Jos van der Hage studied medicine in Leiden and obtained his doctorate in 2006 with his thesis on early-stage breast cancer. From 2009 onwards, he worked as a surgical oncologist at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital. In 2017, he accepted the Professorship of Surgery with a special focus on intra-curricular education. The title of his inaugural lecture was “Augmented reality in surgical education; Nicholas Tulip in the 21st century”. Furthermore, he is a member of the training and education committee of the European Society of Surgical Oncology.

With regard to research, Jos van der Hage is mainly involved in breast cancer research, such as prognostic factors in breast cancer, and education. He conducts research into different methods of learning surgical anatomy. This is achieved by the use of 3D techniques and augmented reality.