In deze rubriek “Proud to be Psy”, geïnspireerd op een term van Menno Oosterhoff, laten we iedere twee weken een (jonge) psychiater of AIOS/ASO aan het woord die 5 dezelfde vragen beantwoordt over zijn blik op de psychiatrie en de psychiater. We interviewen psychiaters (i.o.) die elk op zijn of haar manier bezig is om op een positieve manier bij te dragen aan ons vak. Dat kan zijn doordat hij of zij ontzettend goeie patiëntenzorg levert, iets te vertellen heeft over een (eind)referaat of onderzoek, een boeiend maatschappelijk evenement (mede) organiseert of een origineel idee heeft over de richting waarin de psychiatrie zich idealiter zou kunnen of moeten ontwikkelen.
5 Vragen aan.. Laura Castellanos-Cruz
1. Vertel eens, waar ben je allemaal mee bezig?
Part of the week I work with Dr Dick Swaab at the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience. We are establishing a protocol for chromatin inmunoprecipitation from postmortem, FFPE, human brain tissue, with the objective of studying some specific epigenetic changes in depression and evaluate gender differences. Other days I am doing an internship at Propersona, with Dr Mario Braakman, in Nijmegen. Here I work with the transcultural team and see mainly people that come from out of the Netherlands. Being a mother and learning Dutch and the Dutch ways occupies also a big part of my time.
2. Dat is heel wat! En waar ben je trots op?
I am proud about how much I have learned in these two places. The Netherlands is a wonderful country; the opportunities for research and the availability of incredibly cheap medications give you a great option of work areas and of therapy options for clients. Learning about the cultural difference and the immediate need to know these cultural differences for an adequate treatment has been not only eye opening but an exciting challenge to find the way to provide the best care for each person.
3. Heb jij vertrouwen in de toekomst van de psychiatrie?
Very much! I have the impression mental illness is a bit more taboo here in the Netherlands than in my home country, but it could just be the frequent dutch tendency to avoid going to the doctor at all, for any reason (at least that is what I perceive). However, again, the access to good mental health care with many therapeutic options, cheap medications, and regular appointments is not something that you can get easily in other countries and that makes the possibility of a better quality of life for our clients a much more achievable goal.
4. Tot slot nog een laatste opmerking?
Like everywhere in the world, there is a need for more direct interaction between basic science research and clinicians. Constant communication between these areas of work could result in research projects with much more impact.
5. En aan wie wil je het stokje doorgeven en waarom?
Dr.Frank Kruijver, whom I met briefly but has worked also with Dr Dick Swaab and still does basic research.
