For a long time, Tim Ewoldt (31) was too busy to read. He studied medicine in Maastricht and worked for some years in the hospitals of Limburg. Three and a half years ago, he started his PhD at Erasmus MC. In parallel, he began training in Clinical Pharmacology. There was no reading. Until he picked up Andy Weir’s book Project Hail Mary. “Reading science fiction has a relaxing effect. It gives time to do nothing except read. After this book, I also read other books ”.
Suddenly in space
In the book, a man wakes up in a spaceship. He is somewhere in the galaxies and he has no idea how he got there. He has lost everything, including his memory. Using a systematic approach, the man reveals what happened. The protagonist is a researcher. “This is our likeness. Furthermore, the created world cannot be compared to mine. When I read a book, I want fiction. For non-fiction I read the newspaper or a scientific article ».
Ewoldt is a researcher in the hospital. The nurses predicted that he would end up here when he was twelve. He was hospitalized for abdominal pain. Three days later, he was unharmed. The doctors didn’t know what was happening and Ewoldt felt better again. “Being hospitalized is bad for a child, but not for me. I just asked the nurses a lot of questions. “
Initially, Ewoldt had his heart ready for surgery, but he changed course during his internships. “I understood that I want to do and think. As a surgeon, you are mostly doing. As an anesthetist, the sleep doctor in the operating room, you do both. ” Ewoldt is also interested in the interaction between people and drugs. “If you take sleep medications, you can see the effect in real time.”
Reading behavior
Last book read: Stephan King’s Tale
Main motivation: to relax
Number of books per year: 24
Favorite genre: science fiction and fantasy
Antibiotics for young people
As a PhD student, Ewoldt focuses on the effect of a large group of antibiotics – for the experts: beta-lactam antibiotics – on patients. This drug is often prescribed when doctors still don’t know exactly which bacteria are active in the body.
The dose of antibiotics is suitable for everyone for a young man between 18 and 30 years old, with a weight of 70 kilograms and a height of 1.70 meters. This is not the average type of patient Ewoldt sees in the hospital. He most often sees people with a high BMI or women. “There is little research on women, while we know that on average men urinate antibiotics faster than women.” The faster antibiotics are passed, the more it is needed for an effect. “Women may be able to get away with a lower dose than men.”
During his research, Ewoldt tests several ethically justified doses on real ICU patients, always with the consent of the patient or his family. All corona patients were excluded from the study. In this research, Ewoldt found the combination of thinking and doing. It is in its final stage. “Large items must come out now.”
After uncertainty comes certainty
After his doctorate, Ewoldt wants to train as an anesthesiologist, a popular specialty with many suitable candidates. There are a limited number of places in the country. If hired, he will have a permanent job for the next five years. Until then, there is a lot of uncertainty. “I don’t know where I’m going to end up. It can be Groningen, Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam. I don’t dare buy a house ”.
Tim Ewoldt studied Medicine at Maastricht University. He worked in an intensive care unit and in the cardiology department. In 2019 he started as a PhD student at Erasmus MC, where he is conducting research on therapeutic drug monitoring of beta-lactam antibiotics in seriously ill patients. He also studies Clinical Pharmacology.
