After his residency he specialized in surgical oncology and worked for 16 years in the Daniel den
Hoed Cancer Center (DDHCC) as the Head of the Department of Surgical Oncology. In June 2000,
he continued his professional career as a Professor in Surgical Oncology and chairman of the
Department of Surgery at the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. From
January 1st 2011 he retired form clinical practice and continued his career as a consultant in
coaching, advising and interim management.
For many years, he was co-editor of the European Journal of Surgery and a member of the
advisory board of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. From 2000 till 2008 he was one of
the editors of the Cochrane Colorectal Cancer Group. He served as the treasurer of the Board of
the European Society of Surgical Oncology and was a member of the Dutch Governmental
Committee for Oncology. Presently he is the chairman of the Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit.
Clinically his main interest has been in pelvic and colorectal surgery coordinating several
prospective clinical studies such as the No-touch isolation technique in colon cancer and the
Dutch Total Mesorectal Excision trial. Research activities include also follow-up and imaging
studies in rectal cancer, psychosocial studies related to coping strategies for cancer, continuity of
information for cancer patients and motives and needs of patients seeking a second opinion. He
is (co) author of over 200 publications and 11 book chapters.
Recently he founded the company INCISION. The goal of this company is to provide modern
teaching and training material for surgeons worldwide.
Traditionally the master-apprentice model is used to teach residents, especially in the surgical
field. A supervising surgeon (master) demonstrates how the surgery is performed. After some
time the trainee (apprentice) is allowed to perform r steps under supervision. Gradually more
and more steps of the procedure are carried out by the trainee. This teaching method requires a
great amount of time and effort and is rather inefficient, since the surgeon is not involved in
preparing the trainee for the procedure. In this approach, the theoretical knowledge of the
trainee and the systematic evaluation of the trainees performance in executing the key steps of
the procedure are mostly not clear for both parties. In the light of the enormous demand for
highly trained surgeons a more fluent teaching approach is vital. An integrated stepwise teaching
method consisting of e-learning and visualization with 3D-instructional movies, could be
integrated in current surgical teaching programs while extending the master-apprentice model.
INCISION initiates a platform for Sharing Surgical Skills by appraised surgeons, based on surgical
anatomy, scientific evidence and experience. Its aim is to increase quality and efficiency of
surgical learning worldwide. The train-the-trainer program provides local surgical trainers with a
tool to teach procedures more effectively following a step-by-step approach of the surgery.
Detailed 3D-instructional movies and animations give clear surgical views of the anatomical
structures and operating hazards. Advanced e-learning tools enable trainees to train themselves
with the fundamentals of the surgical steps of procedures. In doing so valuable OR time can be
utilized for practical training.
First inventory efforts in Indonesia show a genuine interest by surgeons as well as residents. A
questionnaire addressing several aspects of the e-learning and videos was filled out by
75 potential users. The future development options were all perceived as beneficial, especially
live or trainer videos. those who would benefit most from the INCISION approach are residents,
followed by young trained surgeons. It is noteworthy that also experienced surgeons are
perceived to benefit from the INCISION approach, because of its reference function.
Future perspectives include integration of these teaching methods into the existing local surgical
curriculum and providing customized learning and customized teaching settings for trainees as
well as local trainers.