On 11 October we held the very first Alumni Homecoming Day – an event that was originally meant to take place during our lustrum year, but due to circumstances finally came to fruition this year. For this event, we invited alumni to come back to campus; to see what has changed since their graduation, to relive their student days and meet old (and new) study friends. On this Friday afternoon we welcomed around 70 alumni who had graduated in 1985, in 2024 and all the years in between!
Dr Lucas Goossens (ESHPM's Director of Education) was present on behalf of the Daily Board to open this festive day and to provide the alumni with some perspective: how has ESHPM grown over the years and what are our ambitions for the future?
It was then time for the ‘Founding Fathers’ of ESHPM, Ruud Lapré, Jan Moen and Aad de Roo, to take the stage. In conversation with Naomi Kabuga, current bachelor’s student and former President of Faculty Association SHARE, these gentlemen shared their experiences of founding our School and the general climate they were working in. Turns out that back then it wasn’t an easy task to convince funders of the importance of the work ESHPM does – though we imagine by now that importance is acknowledged more. Watching them was very entertaining, as during the many years they have worked together they have definitely built up a fun rapport together.
Following the plenary opening, the first round of parallel sessions commenced. Alumni had the option to choose between two mini lectures, given by Prof. Erik Schut, Frédérique Franken and Celine Hendriks on “Alternative payment systems for healthcare providers: rationale and feasibility in the Netherlands,” or by Prof. Anna Petra Nieboer, Hager Hussein and Max Bloem on “Age-friendly communities and well-being realisation among older native and immigrant populations in the Netherlands,” or a workshop about how to manage your personal energy. The personal energy management workshop was given by ESSB alumna Desirée Plaisier.
During the break, students from the current SHARE board took the alumni out for a tour around campus, to show them how the grounds have changed since their graduation. After all, the Erasmus Pavilion is under 15 years old and Langeveld and Polak were only built very recently!
The second round of parallel sessions consisted of a speed dating networking session, led by ESHPM alumna Demi Jongejan, as well as two other mini lectures, given by Prof. Carin Uyl-de Groot on “Reimbursement of New Cancer Drugs: Challenges for Healthcare Accessibility and Affordability,” and by Prof. Iris Wallenburg and Estella Posthuma on “The Region as Place of Care – Rethinking Long-term Care in the Regional Setting.”
The afternoon concluded with plenty of time to catch up with other alumni whilst enjoying some drinks and bites. The photobooth also provided a lot of entertainment.
We look back on a very fun and exciting afternoon. We thank all of the alumni who made the effort to come to this event. It was wonderful to see and meet such of you, and to see your enthusiasm to be back on campus and to connect. We are already looking forward to the next Homecoming Day, which we aim to organise for our next lustrum year: 2027. But, in the meantime, we also have plenty of ideas for 2025.
