In Memoriam Wim Brouwer

In setting up the section, Wim Brouwer approached several general practitioners in the region who were willing to become part-time employees of the University. This laid the foundation for the later network of general practitioners’ surgeries involved in university teaching.

The focus on primary care – and therefore on general medical knowledge and skills – played an important role in the problem-oriented curriculum. At Wim Brouwer's suggestion, one of the blocks during year 1 was used to devote explicit attention to skills. He encouraged Leon Lodewick to set up the physical-examination training as a separate programme. Following the initial positive experiences, the decision was taken to organise these ‘skills training courses’ across the training years. And with that, the Skills Lab was born. Before long, the Lab was severed from the Family Medicine section and incorporated into the Faculty of Medicine.

Another important initiative involved developing, together with Tonja Mol and Peter Bouhuijs, a 12-week internship in a GP's practice during the clinical rotations: the ‘Practical medical education in the GP’s practice’, or PMO-H. Here, too, general medical knowledge and skills were the central priorities, as the name of the internship implies. The internship programme, which began with two review afternoons and later involved one review day a week, became a resounding success and served as an example for internships elsewhere in the Netherlands and for other clinical rotation programmes.

When the structure of the curriculum began to take shape, Wim Brouwer shifted the focus of his attention to developing scientific research. Several social scientists – such as Frans van der Horst – were initially recruited as part of these efforts. After a time, Wim handed the work of further expanding the scientific research over to Cees de Geus and André Knottnerus, who were later to become professors.

Wim Brouwer turned his attention to healthcare as well, and specifically to primary care, developing family medicine, care innovation projects and cooperation between GPs and the hospital. In one of his major accomplishments in this regard, he initiated the Diagnostic Centre in Maastricht, which allowed GPs access to the hospital’s diagnostic facilities, such as laboratory and X-ray equipment. These were the earliest signs heralding the development of the ‘Transmural care’ which has since been introduced all across the Netherlands.

Wim then expanded on the cooperation with GPs within the concept of ‘academisation’. He felt that the interconnectedness between healthcare, innovation in care, education and scientific research – such as existed within the academic hospital, for instance – must also be realised within a number of GP’s practices/health centres. This was no simple task. Yet by the time Wim became an emeritus professor in 1986, academisation agreements had been reached with the Withuis health centre in Venlo and the General Practitioner's surgery in Geulle.

In addition to his work as chair of the Family Medicine section, Wim also served in a variety of roles and positions within the MFM, which would become the State University of Limburg. He was a member of the Faculty Board from 1981 to 1983, and also served as vice-dean.

Wim was an extremely amiable man who placed a high value on interpersonal relationships. He was also very clear in his viewpoints and steadfast in his opinions.

We owe Wim a large debt of gratitude for the tremendous dedication he displayed in the early days of the Family Medicine section, the Faculty of Medicine and academic primary care.

We wish his children and grandchildren strength in this time of loss.

Prof. Jean W.M. Muris,
Dept. of Family Medicine Maastricht
(www.familymedicinemaastricht.nl)