Are you interested in studying how healthcare professionals engage and work with novel and potentially disruptive algorithmic technologies? Then, you are cordially invited to apply for a PhD position at Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Workforce and Sustainable Healthcare research group within Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management.

Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM) is making a substantial investment in research and teaching into the Theme of Workforce and Sustainable Healthcare, which includes the offering of a fully funded, four-year PhD-position. This PhD project will specifically look at how algorithmic technologies are shaping the nature of professional clinical work, and influence the role, expertise and identity of professionals in healthcare.

Job description
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related applications such as machine learning and deep learning in combination with other disruptive technologies such as robots, internet of things, cloud computing and blockchain have the potential to change fundamentally the way we work and how organizations function. Recent AI advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have evoked mixed feelings within healthcare. On the one hand, there are fears about the potential threat to jobs, lack of control by humans and potential ethical implications. Such negative attitudes towards algorithmic technologies can manifest as resistance, or even active resentment against using the technology in clinical practice. Yet, on the other hand, many patient groups, clinicians and policy makers envision a more optimistic future for the incorporation of AI technology into healthcare workflows. They see the potential for AI to enhance workers’ capabilities, save lives, and improve the efficiency and patient-centeredness of health systems.

AI has the potential to not only alter how people work, but also how they relate to their jobs, their sense of professional identity. AI uniquely impacts even highly skilled, knowledge workers in a way unprecedented by previous technologies. While past automation primarily displaced low-skilled labor, AI now poses a threat to professional skills such as expert decision-making and intellectual abilities, which were traditionally deemed uniquely human. Therefore, proactively addressing concerns on the evolving roles of clinicians and their professional expertise and identity is crucial for organizations and health systems. Clinicians who perceive their professional roles, values and identities as jeopardized by AI are more resistant to its adoption and less likely to utilize it effectively. This partly explains the current limited use and sustainable deployment at scale of algorithmic technologies in clinical practice despite substantial investment in health systems. For professionals to regain some sense of control over forthcoming changes in their work and be able to co-create the future AI-driven workplace seem to be important.

Project aims and objectives:
As a PhD candidate, you will be responsible for reviewing and synthesizing various forms of academic literature as well as designing an empirical study, collecting and analyzing qualitative data, and writing up research articles. The empirical cases of this research project can be decided and conducted in collaboration with Erasmus University Medical Center, and/or Professional Associations of various Specialist Clinicians at a European level. There is also potential to conduct a more international cross-country study, involving the Netherlands and another European country.

The specific PhD project objectives are as follows:

• To develop an empirically grounded conceptual model of how emergent algorithmic technologies interact with established infrastructures of professional knowledge, expertise and ethical standards.
• To study empirically through qualitative research methods how algorithmic technologies are shaping the work practices, the sense of competence, authority, relatedness, autonomy and moral norms of clinical professionals.
• To investigate the reshaping of new collaborations among professionals, patients, and algorithmic technologies, analyzing ongoing shifts in the production, contestation, evaluation, and institutionalization of professional status and expertise.
• To communicate knowledge and insights gained from the project with diverse interested audiences.
• To translate knowledge and experiences from the applied cases into concrete learning to be included into related Healthcare Workforce education and training programs
• To develop conceptual knowledge based on the empirical study that will contribute to organizational research on occupations and professions and healthcare management change; and,
• To equip you, the student, with the experiences and skills needed to embark on a fulfilling career in the health care sector or in academia.

This PhD position is part of a new and transdisciplinary research program on Workforce and Sustainability in Health Care within ESHPM. The focus on the restructuring of professional role, skills, values and identity of clinicians following the introduction of disruptive algorithmic technology is one of the core research themes within this program. In addition to developing PhD research, the PhD student will participate in broader research and teaching activities to build and foster the Workforce and Sustainability Theme (e.g. participating in research seminars, developing panels for international conferences, developing courses for ESHPM students and post-academic training).

Supervising team
Your primary supervisor will be Yiannis Kyratsis, Chair of Workforce and Sustainable Healthcare at ESHPM. Other members in the supervisory team include Jan-Jaap Visser, a senior clinical academic and Chief Medical Information Officer at Erasmus Medical Center with expertise in AI and ICT quality improvement in radiology and Maartje Schermer, Chair of Health Ethics in a Technological Society (Digital Health Ethics) with expertise in medical ethics, philosophy and technology. You will be part of a core team of two PhD candidates, two senior academics (Yiannis Kyratsis and Iris Wallenburg) who co-lead the Theme of Workforce and Sustainable Healthcare, and a broader academic community of scholars from various disciplines who are involved in research related to the Theme. You will be embedded in the department of Health Services Management and Organization, which is one of the seven departments in ESHPM and has a vibrant PhD community with regular research seminars.

Essential

• Holding (or close to completing) a Master’s degree in: Healthcare Management, Organization Science, Science &Technology, Health Services Research, Business and/or Management Studies, Sociology, Healthcare Ethics, or another relevant Master’s degree.
• Strong qualitative research competence and analytical skills.
• Excellent verbal and writing skills in English (Proficiency or C1 level).
• Being a team player and developing into a good academic citizen who is willing to contribute to the interdisciplinary research agenda of Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce within ESHPM.
• Demonstrating an ability and desire to work independently, with supervisory support, to develop an independent piece of research.
• Intellectual openness and willingness to be an active member of multicultural teams , working collaboratively in tackling important healthcare challenges.

Desirable

• Familiarity with organization and management theory, and ideally topics related to professions, expertise.
• Knowledge of healthcare organizations and systems.
• Familiarity with algorithmic technologies, ideally applied in healthcare.
• Good command of Dutch language.

As a PhD student at ESHPM, your primary duty will be to conduct research. In the process, you will be given plenty of opportunity to work on your personal development, e.g., by attending relevant courses and attending conferences. In addition, you will be given some teaching duties, which take up on average 15% of your time in a given academic year.

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 01 November 2024 or latest 1 January 2025, and you will be based in Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 2.872 to a maximum of € 3.670 gross per month Scale PhD on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of 18 months.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
The Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM) is a leading institute based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, specializing in healthcare policy and management across disciplines like economics, law, socio-medical sciences, organization science, and public administration. Located in the Bayle Building at Erasmus University Rotterdam and closely associated with Erasmus Medical Centre, ESHPM educates about 1,600 students and employs around 200 faculty members. focusing on internationalization and multidisciplinary research.

The scientific focus of the HSMO department broadly covers the domain of Health Services Management & Organisation. The teaching is mostly organized around the MSc program in Healthcare Management, which is the largest program in this domain in Europe, and the BSc program in Health Sciences (Gezondheidswetenschappen, Beleid & Management Gezondheidszorg). Courses taught for instance address Organisational Behavior, Quality & Safety, Innovation, Integrated Care, Sustainable Healthcare Organisations, Operations Management, and Financial Management.

The research of the department is aligned with the teaching, and prioritized around three shared strategic themes which are interrelated and of particular societal and scientific relevance in the domain of Health Services Management & Organisation: 1) Value-based & data-driven healthcare, 2) Digital innovation, and 3) Organizing & workforce in health & social care. Our research has an empirical improvement focus. While experienced in evaluative studies, the department increasingly engages in design and action research.

In recent years, the department has published in leading journals such as BMJ Quality & Safety, Health Care Management Review, Health Policy, JMIR, Social Science & Medicine and PLOS ONE, and won various scientific awards. Current research projects take place in The Netherlands, Europe, and across the globe in countries such as China and Colombia.

The staff of the department includes 4 Full professors, 3 Associate professors and 11 Assistant professors.

Should you require further details regarding this role, please do not hesitate to contact Yiannis Kyratsis at kyratsis@eshpm.eur.nl.