Thim van der Laan jr.

Founded in Holland in 1974 in Utrecht, THIM has also been active in Landquart, Switzerland for more than 30 years. I am pleased to have been able to lead THIM in Landquart for over ten years now whereas I guide THIM in Nieuwegein for about one year now. In total we educate about 1’000 students in the Netherlands, in Germany and in Switzerland. An international oriented staff of about 80 people with a wide variety of competences is the backbone of THIM.

At THIM University, we strongly believe in the benefits of international experience for both our students and our staff. We aim to give our students and staff as many opportunities as possible to develop international competences and skills, in order to optimize not only their international career opportunities as a physiotherapist, but also their personal growth. To this end, we organize an English-taught international Bachelor’s program in Physiotherapy, international minor programs and internship opportunities, and internationally orientated course components in both the Dutch- and Englishspoken curriculum. We participate in ENPHE, the European cooperation between educators in Physiotherapy and other national and international oriented organizations.

Personally, I strongly believe in the profession of physiotherapy in a modern setting with future-oriented ways of thinking. Accordingly, at THIM we try to incorporate the (physiotherapy) trends of the future, such as technology, interprofessionality and internationalisation, into the bachelor study program. For me, the international assignment in the first year of study is an excellent example of a successful international exchange. It is exemplary for the values of THIM and I am very happy that my students can get to know each other across borders and learn from each other as part of this exchange.

When I'm not fully dedicated to educating the future physiotherapists, one can surely find me on the football pitch of the rather alpine FC Davos of which I am currently the president. However, when I am working in the Netherlands, I like to spend my evening at our partner „De Loods“ at the Archimedesbaan. Even better then playing football or doing indoor training is hitting the ski slopes in my home town of Davos. For a nice sunny day on the slopes followed by après-ski, you can always contact me :-).

What aspects of internationalisation within your study do you think can contribute to you becoming a better physiotherapist?