Richard Daniëls
PhD candidate
Richard Daniëls completed his Medical degree at the VU University in Amsterdam in 2010. After finishing his Medicine study he volunteered as a medical doctor at the Emergency Department at the University Hospital in Kathmandu in Nepal. Subsequently, he worked in the Netherlands as a medical doctor in the Surgery and Emergency Department. Due to visual problems, his career path changed and he started his career in occupational medicine. During his training in order to become an insurance physician at the Dutch social security and disability service (UWV), which he completed in 2020, he published a scientific article on the challenges of insurance physicians regarding the assessment of employment opportunities for people with a visual impairment. Subsequently, this led to our current project in which we investigate which factors influence work participation of visually impaired people. In addition to his research, Richard continues to work as an insurance physician.
What makes doing research interesting and challenging for him?
Both professionally and privately, Richard has experienced the complexity of the work challenges that exist for people with a visual impairment. Professionals have a gap in sufficient knowledge, skills and attention to tackle the complexity of these disabilities. Professionals in this field are therefore diligently seeking to improve insight and instruments regarding the work capacity assessment and work possibilities of visually impaired people.
