Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing
Some of you will remember Professor Rudi Westendorp who was the ANZSGM Visiting Professor in 2008. Rudi heads the Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands and has a strong research record in many areas including longevity and the biology of ageing (he leads the Leiden 85-plus Study). He is pictured here demonstrating how to improve life expectancy through dietary intervention and outdoor activity.
Over the past 2 years Rudi has developed the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing with support from the Leiden University Medical Centre and Aegon (a large insurance company). This wonderfully named Academy is designed to be a knowledge and research centre for geriatric medicine and gerontology with the aim of training health care professionals to develop innovative programs to improve health outcomes and quality of life for older people. Rudi had invited my husband Ian Cameron and myself to the Leyden Academy as visiting professors and so we spent three and a half months in early 2010 in Leiden on sabbatical becoming involved in the life of the Academy. We also were made very welcome in the Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology and became involved with a number of their research projects, and with the Department of Primary Care and Public Health.
The University of Leiden is the oldest university in The Netherlands and its medical faculty is based in the Leiden University Medical Centre. This centre has a very active Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology where the staff geriatricians spend half their time in clinical work and half in teaching and research. Research opportunities range from bench research (with lots of interest in muscle satellite cells and what makes them tick) through to clinically based research. The current MYOAGE project combines both with one of our colleagues taking muscle biopsies from healthy older volunteers and then following them through various activities. Sarcopenia is a hot topic there at the moment, and we were involved in a work group looking at how to operationalise sarcopenia in the clinical environment. There was already an Australian connection there with Dr Carolina Ling working in that area as part of the development of her PhD.
The Leyden Academy has a number of programs on offer for both Dutch and international students. Amongst the great programs is an Executive Course for health administrators that examines how health systems should be adapting for older people, and considers international examples of both successful and less successful models of care. Ian and I had the opportunity to present on the Australian situation as part of our role there.
However probably the most interesting and important program is the Academy’s Masters Program in Vitality and Ageing which begins in September this year. This is a one year course targeted at medical practitioners, looking at ageing in the 21st Century from the biology of ageing right through to geriatric medical issues. It is mainly course work in small groups with an excellent international teaching faculty. More information is available on the Academy’s website www.leydenacademy.nl. The degree is a Master of Science from the University of Leiden, with the opportunity to continue with a PhD in Leiden or at the student’s preferred university. It would present a wonderful non core year training opportunity for someone who wanted to spend 10 months in a beautiful part of Europe furthering their knowledge in geriatrics.
Ian and I arrived there in February with snow on the ground and ice on the canals, and we left as the tulips were blooming. Living in an apartment in the centre of the old part of Leiden was an amazing experience. The only essential criterion is the ability to ride a bicycle as that is how you get around, got to work, go out at night, do the shopping, collect the children etc. The North Sea coast with its wonderful long sandy beaches and sand dunes was about 5km away if water is important to you (and there is plenty of that everywhere in the Netherlands). People were incredibly friendly and welcoming and most people speak excellent English so there is no need to learn Dutch unless you want to read the local newspapers (or the labels on food in the supermarket). With the airport of Schiphol 15 minutes away by train, Leiden is very close to the rest of Europe. The trains are another great way to get around and we used them regularly.
We are continuing to develop our links with Leiden and have recently hosted our first Dutch medical student from Leiden at Hornsby. We have ongoing research interests and will hopefully be back there in early 2011 for a few weeks. I am happy to talk with people who might be interested in the Masters course and there is lots of information on their website or from the various Academy staff.
Susan Kurrle
kurrle@bigpond.com