PhD candidate on Enhancing Reflective Practice in Health Professions Education

Welcome to Maastricht University
At Maastricht University, we believe that education and research go hand in hand to shape the future of healthcare. In this PhD project at the School of Health Professions Education (SHE), you’ll help improve how future doctors learn—not just what they know, but how they reflect on who they are and how they grow. You’ll be part of an internationally renowned academic environment dedicated to innovation in health professions education, with impact that reaches from the clinic to the classroom.

About the project

Reflection is essential to professional development—especially for medical students transitioning into clinical practice. While higher education places growing emphasis on reflection, we still face key challenges:

• How well do students transfer reflective skills into the clinical workplace?
• What role do clinical teachers play in supporting reflection?
• Which workplace conditions help (or hinder) the development of reflective habits?

This PhD project explores the barriers and enablers of reflection in work-based learning. You'll examine how medical students, young professionals, and supervisors engage with reflection in real clinical contexts. Your goal is to provide insight into how we can implement and sustain effective reflective practices that support long-term professional growth and lifelong learning. 

You’ll conduct empirical research—both qualitative and quantitative—and work closely with an interdisciplinary team of experts in medical education, psychology, and professional development.

What you will do

In this PhD role, you will:

• Investigate how reflective skills are fostered—or blocked—within clinical learning environments.
• Identify key conditions and strategies that promote reflection among students and clinical educators.
• Explore how workplace supervision can strengthen or inhibit reflective behaviour.
• Conduct interviews, observations, and other data collection with students, teachers, and professionals.
• Analyse qualitative and quantitative data and translate findings into practical recommendations.
• Contribute to scientific publications, present your work at international conferences, and share insights with educational stakeholders.

What you bring

We are looking for someone who is driven by curiosity and motivated to improve learning in healthcare. You are someone who connects people, ideas, and perspectives. Ideally, you:

• Hold a Master’s degree (MSc) in Education, Psychology, Health Sciences, or a related discipline.
• Have interest and preferably some experience in qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.
• Communicate fluently in both Dutch and English (spoken and written), as you will interview Dutch-speaking participants.
• Are proactive, reflective, and eager to contribute your own ideas to shape the research.
• Thrive in an interdisciplinary and collaborative team environment.

What we offer
As a PhD at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded according to UFO profile PhD, with corresponding salary from €3.059,00 in the first year and €3.881,00 gross per month in the fourth year (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 0,8 - 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow. 
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model. 
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students. 
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'. 
   

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?

At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM. 

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
At the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), everything revolves around healthy living. Our research and education are not solely focused on recovery, but place a strong emphasis on prevention, health preservation, and health promotion. Our aim is to use our knowledge and expertise to genuinely contribute to the well-being of individual people as well as society in total. 

In, research, and healthcare, FHML is closely collaborating with the academic hospital in Maastricht, together forming the Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+).  FHML is strongly connected in education, research, and care with the Maastricht academic hospital, together with which it forms the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+). 

FHML, which is the largest faculty of Maastricht University, is formed by an (inter)national community of employees and students. The faculty offers a wide range of Dutch and English-taught bachelor's and master's programs in innovative educational concepts in which the emphasis is always on building bridges to practice.
 

The multidisciplinary research of the FHML focuses on a number of carefully chosen topical current themes. In addition to research aimed at gaining new insights, it also concerns research whose results can be directly translated into concrete applications and innovations. The implementation of the various research programs is organized in our six graduate schools and two institutes.

Department of Educational Development and Research

This department supports innovation and research of bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate training programs within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University in various domains, such as instruction and e-learning, assessment, faculty development, and evaluation or quality improvement.

https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/educational-development-research

School of Health Professions Education (SHE)

The School of Health Professions Education (SHE) is a graduate school for research, education and innovation in health professions education. SHE’s ambitions are captured in our vision: excellent healthcare requires evidence-informed models for the education of future and current healthcare professionals.

https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/school-health-professions-education-0

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Niels van der Baan at n.vanderbaan@maastrichtuniversity.nl or +31 43 388 3001 for more information. 

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD candidate? Apply now, no later than 17 August 2025, for this position.
 

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.