Last year's workshops

Department: Wenckebach Institute for Education and Training

Supervisor:  Monique Timmer, Instructor ERC / NRR CPR-Instructor

During this workshop, participants were invited to engage with fellow students (3-4 people) to demonstrate a perfect resuscitation (with AED) and continue the resuscitation for some time (5-7 minutes). Students who did not participate in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation-action (CPR) were invited to assess the resuscitation: what was going well and what could have gone better. If you were working as a doctor, it was necessary to take leadership in a resuscitation team and have the ability to coach your CPR team. A good observation of skills was a requirement for doctors to make the CPR procedure perfect. During the CPR action, it was important to push hard (5-6 cm), push fast (100-120/minute), and minimize interruption. At the end of this workshop, participants could exercise their CPR skills with the AED. The workshop ended with a certificate of participation titled “Workshop: heroes aren’t born, they are trained,” given by the Wenckebach Training Institute of the UMCG. Participants could find the international guidelines for CPR on the site of the ERC:www.erc.edu. Furthermore, you can find a link about an international campaign for reanimation awareness: life-saver.org.uk.

Department: Radiotherapy

Supervisor: Christian Hammer MD

Radiotherapy is one of the pillars of the treatment of oncologic patients, next to surgery and
systemic therapy. In the Netherlands, this specialty is developing very fast, resulting in the treatment of new indications with state-of-the-art techniques to optimally treat cancer with minimal side effects.
One of the most important innovations is proton therapy. The UMCG was the first institute that started this new technique in the Netherlands, back in 2018.
Proton therapy is a relatively new method to treat patients with radiation, as protons have special
characteristics to inflict DNA damage without further passing through the body, as photons do.
This makes it possible to inflict less damage to the healthy organs surrounding the tumor. The workshop entailed an interactive presentation where input from the audience was sought in a number of clinical urological cases in which new techniques were applied and provided basic insights into the treatment principles of cancer.

Department: Pulse racing

Supervisors: Jace Ravenburg, Kristel den Engelsman and Tijn van Rietschoten

PULSE Racing was founded to advance functional electrostimulation (FES) for people with spinal cord injuries. Having a spinal cord injury causes several physical problems. Besides the inability to walk and reduced mobility, people with paraplegia (inability to voluntarily move the lower parts of the body) also have a reduced condition, disturbed blood circulation and a high risk of pressure sores. This has a  negative impact on their quality of life and personal well-being. FES has a proven positive influence on the physical condition of people with spinal cord injury. The active movements induced by FES have positive effects on the condition, blood circulation and psychological state. In this workshop, participants had the chance to gain a deeper understanding of how electrostimulation worked and had the ability to speak with paralympic athletes who had used this technology for cycling. They even had the opportunity to try the bike for themselves!

Department: Burn Centre, Groningen

Supervisor: M.E. van Eck MD

The treatment of patients with (extensive) burns remains a major challenge. Two main factors define burn severity: depth of burn injury and total body surface (TBSA) area burnt. In burn wounds, not only the thermally injured skin and the underlying anatomical structures are affected, but there are some pathophysiological changes that influence the whole body. This workshop entailed an interactive presentation and a number of clinical cases in which the students could practice examining a burn wound.

Department: Psychiatry, UMCG

Supervisor: F. D. van Es MD

Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as the loss of contact with reality. Patients experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) or delusional beliefs (false beliefs about what is taking place or who one is). The combination of both often causes a severe disruption of perception, thinking, emotion and behaviour. Depending on its severity, a psychotic episode may thus be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behaviour, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out daily life activities. As a result, patients with psychosis are caught in a hostile environment. They are therefore in need of your dedication and medical skills: how can you meet their needs? How can you avoid stigma and promote health and social recovery?
During this workshop, participants were able to ask questions to a psychiatrist and a patient who had suffered from psychosis.

Department: Gastroenterology & Endocrine Surgery, UMCG

Supervisors: Andrea Sterkenburg TP PhD candidate, Eline Feitsma MD PhD candidate

The ultimate surgical goal in surgical oncology is the resection of all tumour tissue, while preserving adjacent healthy tissue. The presence of tumour-positive surgical margins significantly decreases survival in a variety of solid tumours. However, intraoperative tumour delineation is performed with ancient techniques: human vision and tactile information.
Although conventional imaging techniques, such as CT and MRI, support the surgeon by providing preoperative information, reliable imaging techniques that can provide information on the resection margins during surgery are lacking. In the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), we have one of the world’s pioneering research groups in fluorescence-guided surgery. Here, we lighten up the tumour with the use of targeted fluorescent tracers and enhance the contrast between tumour and adjacent tissue. The main goal is to improve tumour visualization where it is needed most: the surgical theatre. Before surgery, patients are administered with the tracer and, with dedicated fluorescence camera systems, we can directly visualize these tumour-specific tracers intra-operatively and provide direct surgical margin evaluation. During this workshop, participants were able to track tumors in a phantom model and tried to resect all of these with the aid of our dedicated fluorescence camera systems.

Supervisors: Kirsten Francis Ma PhD, Stein van der Heide MSc

Donor organ quality has recently been decreasing because of an ageing population and a rising BMI. Further, in the coming years, more and more donor organs are expected to be declined for transplantation. Therefore, there is a need for a method to increase the pool of good-quality organs. Machine perfusion offers the possibility of viability testing and resuscitation of organs of suboptimal quality that would otherwise be discarded. In this way, machine perfusion can increase the quality of available donor organs and the number of viable organs. Machine perfusion of donor organs is becoming a standard way of organ preservation. The University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) is leading in the field of machine preservation. Many initially declined organs in the Netherlands are currently tested in the UMCG by machine perfusion. Many of the previously declined livers are now actually transplanted with very good results. In this hands-on workshop, participants learned about machine perfusion and the anatomy of perfused organs. They practiced preparing (porcine) donor organs for ‘transplantation’ and machine perfusion. Afterwards, they saw how well they had done the preparations when some of their organs were placed on the pump in a demonstration of machine perfusion.

Supervisors: Ilse Broeders & Petra Vinke, project managers Lifelines

Why do some people get ill? What are risk factors and how can we bring earlier diagnosis, better treatments and effective prevention a step closer? Large scale population data and biobanks can help
researchers to unravel this complex puzzle of gene, environment and lifestyle influences. Lifelines data and biobank collects and shares data and biomaterials for more healthy years.
This diverse and big dataset from over 167,000 inhabitants in the north of the Netherlands includes family relations which makes it very useful for intergenerational, multidisciplinary research.
In this workshop participants used the Lifelines public health dataset to create ideas to expand their research with real world data.

Department: Research Support Facility – Central Animal Facility

Supervisors: Annemieke van Oosten PhD, Catriene Thuring VMD PhD

Microsurgical techniques have gained importance in recent years. The more delicate and sophisticated a surgical technique is, the more it requires training and education. The purpose of this workshop was to teach the students the proper way to handle their surgical instruments, how to tie a suture in the correct way, and to provide an opportunity to test their hands in the fine art and skill of micro suturing.

Supervisors: Karim Hamid MD

It is said that a doctor’s time with a patient is limited to 8 minutes and medical knowledge is doubling approximately every 73 days. In this dynamic, fast-paced medical world, how can we use technology to ensure that clinicians have uninterrupted, on-demand access to the latest medical guidelines to enable them to make evidence-based clinical decisions while reducing medical errors? And how can new tech tools lay the foundation for current medical students to incorporate pertinent knowledge into their education while measuring their retention and facilitating student-led learning with a goal-oriented mindset?

During this workshop participants would find out how AMBOSS, a platform created by doctors for doctors, addresses all these fundamental challenges of learning and practicing medicine. They learned first-hand from the AMBOSS team how this comprehensive tool can benefit you from day one of medical school to your time as a doctor on the wards.

During this workshop, participants had the opportunity to visit research laboratories in the UMCG. They received a guided tour from a PhD student, in which they could ask the student anything they wanted to know about conducting research in Groningen. Additionally, the student showed the kind of research performed in the labs and shared their own experiences with conducting research in that environment.

Department: 3D-lab / Orthopedic Surgery / Trauma Surgery

Supervisor: Peter Pijpker, Anne Meesters en Nick Assink (Technical Physicians and 3D specialists)

In the UMCG, 3D virtual surgical planning technology is used frequently for many interventions within various disciplines. The use of 3D technology assures safer, faster and more accurate surgical procedures. Within our institution the Technical Physicians of the 3D-lab are planning complex cases on a daily basis. Using 3D-printed patient specific instrumentation and implants, the virtual plan is transferred to the surgical theater with high accuracy.

One of many applications is the 3D guided patient-specific corrective limb osteotomy. Corrective osteotomy surgery for bony anomalies can be very challenging since the deformation of the bone is often in three-dimensions. The use of 3D planning and printing allows to visualize the anatomy in 3D and plan the osteotomy based on the CT scan. Additionally, patient-specific instrumentation can be manufactured to guide the cutting and reposition process, leading to a more predictive result.

This workshop consisted of two parts. Firstly, the participants learned the basics of virtual surgical planning and tried to virtually plan a corrective limb osteotomy. Secondly, the workshop continued with hands-on simulated surgery on sawbones. In this part, the participants learned to use the patient-specific 3D-printed instrumentation, aiming to correct the deformity.

Department: Health psychology

Supervisors: Margreet Smit, Miranda Trippenzee

Inappropriate behaviour comes in all shapes and sizes. From the innocent ‘I know you don’t have time, but can you still…’, to situations in which people (including patients) demand or require things from you that you do not support and which you can experience as crossing your boundaries. Not only do others cross our boundaries, we also regularly cross our own. Before someone else crosses your boundary, you have often already crossed many boundaries within yourself.

Therefore, we did not concentrate on serious physical or verbal boundary-crossing behavior. For example, we worked on not saying no to requests that did not fit at the time or asking too much of you.

In this workshop, participants became more aware of their signals (in their bodies, thoughts, and feelings) when they or someone crossed their boundaries. Additionally, they reflected upon the fact that in situations where there was boundary-crossing behavior, often one of their values was ignored. The workshop ended with practicing a communication method to respond to inappropriate/boundary-crossing situations.

Department: Pulse racing

Supervisors: Jace Ravenburg, Kristel den Engelsman and Tijn van Rietschoten

PULSE Racing was founded to advance functional electrostimulation (FES) for people with spinal cord injuries. Having a spinal cord injury causes several physical problems. Besides the inability to walk and reduced mobility, people with paraplegia (inability to voluntarily move the lower parts of the body) also have a reduced condition, disturbed blood circulation and a high risk of pressure sores. This has a  negative impact on their quality of life and personal well-being. FES has a proven positive influence on the physical condition of people with spinal cord injury. The active movements induced by FES have positive effects on the condition, blood circulation and psychological state. In this workshop, participants had the chance to gain a deeper understanding of how electrostimulation worked and had the ability to speak with paralympic athletes who had used this technology for cycling. They even had the opportunity to try the bike for themselves!

Department: Burn Centre, Groningen

Supervisor: M.E. van Eck MD

The treatment of patients with (extensive) burns remains a major challenge. Two main factors define burn severity: depth of burn injury and total body surface (TBSA) area burnt. In burn wounds, not only the thermally injured skin and the underlying anatomical structures are affected, but there are some pathophysiological changes that influence the whole body. This workshop entailed an interactive presentation and a number of clinical cases in which the students could practice examining a burn wound.

Department: Surgery, UMCG

Supervisor: Vincent Meyer MD PhD

In abdominal surgery bowel resections are often performed. In most cases an anastomosis is attempted. This means that the two ends of the bowel are attached to each other. In this workshop, different types of anastomoses are discussed and various techniques are explained. A large part of the program will consist of a hands-on workshop, in which actual intestinal anastomoses can be made by the students. After this workshop, the students understood the different anastomoses, suturing techniques and pitfalls.

Department: Genderteam UMCG

Supervisor: A. G. Schuringa

Transgender people experience a mismatch between their gender identity or gender expression and their assigned sex. Transgender is an umbrella term, because in addition to including trans men and trans women (whose binary gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex), it may also include genderqueer people (whose identities are not exclusively masculine or feminine, for example: bigender, pangender, genderfluid, or agender).

Since the late ‘70s the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands offers a treatment programme for transgenders, according to the professional standards of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). Once patients have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by the psychiatrist, the ‘real life phase’ starts. This include living their gender identity and cross-sex hormone therapy. When the ‘real-life phase’ has been followed through with success, one can apply for sex reassignment surgery. After these operations, a lifelong continuation of cross-sex hormone therapy is needed to maintain secondary sex characteristics of the desired gender.

What does the transition contain and cause physically, mentally, and socially and how can we guide the patients in this process? During this workshop, participants were able to ask questions to a member of the UMCG Gender team and a transgender patient.

Department: Radiation Oncology, UMCG

Supervisor: Prof. Stefan Both MD PhD

Radiation oncology is a rapidly evolving field where innovative technology, physics, and medicine merge and enhance one another. Pencil beam scanning (PBS) is a relatively new radiation therapy technique that involves protons instead of traditional X-rays. PBS offers new opportunities for cancer patients, who benefit from a significant reduction of radiation exposure to normal tissues. In certain patients, this may lead to fewer side effects and consequent irreversible late complications of treatment. During this workshop, participants had the opportunity to participate in our ‘radiotherapy operating room.’ In an interactive manner, they experienced the processes of radiation treatment planning and radiation delivery. They were part of a discussion on patient selection, including ethical issues and cost effectiveness, and ongoing scientific investigations to compare PBS to other radiation therapy techniques.

Department: Cardiothoracic Surgery, UMCG

Supervisors: Prof. M. Mariani MD PhD, W. Bouma MD PhD

Atrial fibrillation is an increasing worldwide problem and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In this workshop, the basic anatomy of the heart and its relationship with the etiology and pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation will be discussed. A basic understanding of cardiac anatomy is essential in understanding atrial fibrillation and the different surgical treatment modalities. The different surgical treatment modalities for atrial fibrillation will be explained and shown during this workshop. Advantages and disadvantages of these techniques will be discussed. After this workshop, medical students understood the basics of atrial fibrillation and its surgical treatment.

Supervisors: Lucas Kuipers MD

De Nederlandse gezondheidszorg is verantwoordelijk voor ongeveer zeven procent van de Nederlandse CO₂-uitstoot. In de Green Deal duurzame zorg hebben stakeholders vanuit het hele zorgstelsel afgesproken de CO₂-uitstoot met 49 procent te verlagen. (Academische) ziekenhuizen kunnen hier een grote impact op maken. Een van de academische ziekenhuizen heeft ons gevraagd een inschatting van de grootste bronnen van uitstoot te maken.

Gupta Strategists helpt ziekenhuizen door het hele zorgstelsel met het oplossen van dit soort strategische vraagstukken.

In deze workshop gaven we de deelnemers een beeld van strategy consulting in de gezondheidszorg. We oefenden met het structureren en oplossen van complexe problemen en gaven een inkijkje in ons werk en de impact die we hebben gemaakt.

Department: Geriatrics

Supervisor: Harianne Hegge PhD

About the future of healthcare. Despite the efforts of “healthy aging”, everyone will grow older/ age. What does that mean? How does that feel? Try it yourself. In this workshop participants got acquainted with aging, frailty, and resilience. Furthermore, they could experience for themselves what it felt like to be an elderly person.

Supervisor: Melissa Schoon & Stevan van der Hoek

eLab offers digital lab solutions for any laboratory need. Our cloud-based flexible software enhances your work activities for writing your experiment data in a journal, collaborating with fellow lab members, and storing all your samples in the inventory management system.  In short, an all-in-one package specifically for R&D research.

During our workshop, we demonstrated the possibilities and advantages of an ELN. To add some interaction, participants played a game and explored eLab using handheld scanning devices.

Department: UMCG Center for Rehabilitation, Physical and Rehabilitation medicine

Supervisor: Dr. G.E. van der Wal, MD PhD and Drs. M. Tepper MD

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is an event in which the individual experience reduced or complete loss of mobility below the lesion level. World wide SCI has an incidence of 3.6-195.4 cases per million worldwide. In the Netherlands the incidence of traumatic SCI is about 200 cases per year, the non-traumatic SCI is much higher.

Individuals with motor-complete SCI use, generally, a wheelchair to move toward a destination in their daily activities. Most of the individuals with an incomplete SCI  However, sitting in a wheelchair for a longer period leads to various medical and psychological problems. Standing and gait reconstruction to prevent these problems had been a key and challenge within rehabilitation medicine.

In the past decades, a few gait and walking devices have been developed to improve or optimize remaining walking abilities or to provide standing and walking abilities for (in)complete SCI individuals.

Supervisor: Marc Kaptein, MD

The development of innovative drugs and vaccines is notoriously time-consuming. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, under huge pressure, this process was accelerated without lowering quality standards of the trial, data, or outcome. The result was an effective and safe vaccine that helped us to get out of the lockdowns and return to normalcy again. What have we learned at Pfizer during the pandemic? How has this changed the way we work? And why is this in the interest of patients, prescribers, society and also Pfizer itself?

Marc Kaptein, Medical Director of Pfizer Netherlands shared the past, present, and future of vaccine and drug development touching on AI, algorithms, and social media to speed up innovation.

Department: Cardiothoracic Surgery, UMCG

Supervisors: M. Kuijpers MD PhD, W. Bouma MD PhD

Heart failure is an increasing worldwide problem. Until recently, heart transplantation was the only effective option to prolong the survival of patients with end-stage heart failure. Nowadays it can be treated by implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). In this workshop, the problem of end-stage heart failure, the relevant cardiac anatomy, and concepts of different types of left ventricular assist devices will be discussed (emergency implantation and destination therapy). The implantation technique of an internal LVAD used for destination therapy will be shown. After this workshop, medical students understood the entity of heart failure and the concepts and problems related to LVAD therapy.

Department:  Research Institute of Pharmacy

Supervisor: Drs. Ing. P.P.M.F.A (Patty) Mulder, Prof. E.M.J. (Sabeth) Verpoorte, PhD

Over the past couple of decades Lab-on-a-chip technologies made inroads into laboratories focusing on the development of fast chemical and bioanalytical analyses using minute volumes of sample. Micro- and nanotechnologies are used to construct interconnected microchannel networks in planar substrates, forming microfluidic devices to replace more conventional chemical vessels such as beakers, and columns to achieve ultra-small-volume (10-6 to 10-15 µL) liquid handling. Small handheld analysers are one result, suitable for medical diagnostic, agricultural, environmental, and other applications.

The last fifteen years, lab chip technologies have also found increasing application for cell biological studies, as cell microenvironments can be exquisitely engineered to mimic in vivo environments. It becomes possible to think about assembling tissue constructs or actual tissue samples in physiological configurations in specially designed lab chip systems, so-called “body-on-a-chip” or “human-on-a-chip” system. This may lead to an improved capability to study in vivo processes in vitro. Organ interactions can be revealed in these systems, giving insight not only into drug toxicity but also into more subtle regulatory pathways between organs.

Department: Department of Critical Care, UMCG

Supervisors: A. (Annalies) de Bont-Prins and M. (Marije) Smit MD

Implementation of interdisciplinary teams in the ICU to provide care in often life-threatening situations, focused attention on the relevance of leadership behaviour. Effective, coordinated, and safe patient care challenge even the most experienced ICU teams daily. Leadership behaviour is defined as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Simulation training is useful for teaching team-based crisis management skills and is now considered essential in developing and maintaining competencies for ICU workers.

In our high fidelity simulation center, participants of the workshop will become familiar with some stepwise elements of the treatment, such as resuscitation and airway management of critically ill patients. The non-technical skills such as leadership, communication, and cooperation are also emphasised. The experiences may contribute to the development of knowledge and skills in decision-making and teamwork during the treatment of critically ill patients.

Department: 3D-lab / Orthopedic Surgery / Trauma Surgery

Supervisors: Peter Pijpker, Anne Meesters en Nick Assink (Technical Physicians and 3D
specialists)

In the UMCG, 3D virtual surgical planning technology is used frequently for many interventions within various disciplines. The use of 3D technology assures safer, faster and more accurate surgical procedures. Within our institution the Technical Physicians of the 3D-lab are planning complex cases on a daily basis. Using 3D-printed patient specific instrumentation and implants, the virtual plan is transferred to the surgical theater with high accuracy.

One of many applications is the 3D guided patient-specific corrective limb osteotomy. Corrective osteotomy surgery for bony anomalies can be very challenging since the deformation of the bone is often in three-dimensions. The use of 3D planning and printing allows to visualize the anatomy in 3D and plan the osteotomy based on the CT scan. Additionally, patient-specific instrumentation can be manufactured to guide the cutting and reposition process, leading to a more predictive result.

This workshop consisted of two parts. Firstly, the participants would learn the basics of virtual surgical planning and tried to virtually plan a corrective limb osteotomy. Secondly, the workshop would continue with hands-on simulated surgery on sawbones. In this part the participants learned how to use the patient specific 3D-printed instrumentation, aiming to correct the deformity.

Department: Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, UMCG Prosthetic Dentistry, UMCG

Supervisors: Prof. Henny J.A. Meijer DMD PhD, Prof. Gerry M. Raghoebar DMD
PhD, Wim J.W.A. Slot DMD PhD, Charlotte Jensen DMD PhD

Losing one or more teeth in the aesthetic zone has a great impact on a person. Inserting root-form dental implants and restoring them with ceramic crowns has proven to be a reliable method to solve this problem. The dental literature shows excellent survival rates of single-tooth restorations on dental implants, varying from 96.1% to 98.9% after 7.5 years in function. Studies that address aesthetics and patient satisfaction reveal it is a very sensitive method in the eye of the professional, but that patients are generally very satisfied.

This workshop comprised a lecture with the possibilities of dental implants, different treatment steps, and aesthetic results. The second part of the workshop involved hands-on training in which the participants actually placed a dental implant in a model, imitating the surgical part of the treatment. The workshop was supported by Nobel Biocare, the Netherlands.

Department: Anatomy & Medical Physiology, Biomedical Sciences of Cells & Systems, UMCG

Supervisors: Gerben Ruesink, MSc., Janniko Georgiadis, PhD

Dissection of the human body in general and of the brain in particular is an underexposed part of the average medical curriculum. In this context, the workshop “Dissection of the human brain” will address this omission. The workshop will be organised in the dissection room of the Anatomy Department of the UMCG and is especially intended for students with a special interest in the brain.

The workshop started with the inspection of the external parts of the human brain. The morphology of meninges, blood vessels, and neocortical areas were central topics. Subsequently, transversal and horizontal sections of fixated human brains were used to inspect the inner parts of the brain. Attention was paid to the three-dimensional location of the cortical, extrapyramidal, and limbic structures. At the end of the workshop, students had gained a better insight into the structure and function of the human brain.

Department: Plastic Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen

Supervisors: Vera van Aalst MD

Plastic surgeons perform a variety of different reconstructive and esthetic procedures. These vary from basic wound care to extensive reconstructions after tissue loss or removal due to trauma or disease, like cancer. Plastic surgeons at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), collaborate with many different medical specialists. Considering the high incidence of breast cancer (more than 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetime) a large part of our practice focuses on breast reconstruction after cancer removal. We perform these reconstructions using a patients’ own tissue, or implants. Tissue expanders are often used to expand skin and other soft tissues to create a pocket in which to place a permanent implant or to obtain more tissue to cover a defect.

The main goal of this workshop was to familiarise participants with different treatment options available for breast reconstruction. Specifically, they learned how to use tissue expanders for use in breast reconstruction.

Department: Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems, section Anatomy and Medical Physiology

Supervisors: E. Sietsema, H.H. van der Wal

Pulmonary function tests, including spirometry, play an important role in the detection of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Measurements of pulmonary function help to chart the course of the disease and assess the risk of complications. As a doctor and clinical researcher, it is important to accurately interpret and analyse spirometry testing results. Therefore, practicals in performing these spirometry tests are an important part of the education provided by the medical faculty to its students. When attendees participated in this workshop, they experienced one of the informative medical physiology laboratories about lung function testing as it was given to students of the University of Groningen Medical Faculty. Students learned to conduct lung function tests on their fellow students and generated their own physiology data. In addition, students gained skills in performing lung function testing and learned to analyze and interpret their personalized data. Lastly, students had a chance to learn what these physiological concepts actually meant.

Department: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, UMCG

Supervisors: Prof. Ruud R.M. Bos DMD PhD, Baucke van Minnen MD

The treatment of mandibular fractures has evolved greatly over the past 50 years. Biomechanical principles that have been developed in laboratory models are applied to clinical practice in order to allow for immediate mobilization and rehabilitation of the injured part. The goal of this workshop was to give insight into the widely accepted treatment modality of mandibular fractures: internal fixation with mini plates and screws. After a short introduction to the principles of mandibular fracture treatment, the participants would perform an osteosynthesis of mandibular fractures in a polyurethane mandible with mini plates and screws.

Department: Gastroenterology & Endocrine Surgery, UMCG

Supervisors: Andrea Sterkenburg TP PhD candidate, Eline Feitsma MD PhD candidate

The ultimate surgical goal in surgical oncology is the resection of all tumour tissue, while preserving adjacent healthy tissue. The presence of tumour-positive surgical margins significantly decreases survival in a variety of solid tumours. However, intraoperative tumour delineation is performed with ancient techniques: human vision and tactile information. Although conventional imaging techniques, such as CT and MRI, support the surgeon by providing preoperative information, reliable imaging techniques that can provide information on the resection margins during surgery are lacking. In the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), we have one of the world’s pioneering research groups in fluorescence guided surgery. Here, we lighten up the tumour with the use of targeted fluorescent tracers and enhance the  contrast between tumour and adjacent tissue. The main goal is to improve tumour visualization where it is needed most: the surgical theatre. Before surgery, patients are administered with the tracer and, with dedicated fluorescence camera systems, we can directly visualize these tumour-specific tracers intra- operatively and provide direct surgical margin evaluation.

Department: Research Support Facility – Central Animal Facility

Supervisors: Catriene Thuring VMD PhD en Annemieke van Oosten PhD

Many major findings in the field of human medicine have been established following animal experiments. To date, animal experimentation is still a very important way to gain data and knowledge mandatory to develop new procedures in modern human medicine.

Within the UMCG all animal experimental work is organised in the Central Animal Facility.

The workshop consisted of a guided tour in this facility. During the tour the current status of laboratory animal experimentation within the UMCG was presented.

Supervisor: Sean de Jong, MD

Precision medicine takes into account differences between individual patients and seeks to take advantage of them with the aim to find the right therapy for the right patient at the right time.

This workshop covered the general principles of precision medicine. Furthermore, it had a specific focus on precision medicine in oncology, which was highlighted with several examples.

The value of precision medicine was discussed with the participants in order to try to answer the question, “Was precision medicine the way forward in improving patient care?”