The Anesthesiology Department of St. Maarten Medical Center has recently welcomed a new permanent Anesthesiologist, Dr. Jumoke Vreden, to its team. Dr. Vreden studied at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and completed her residency in Anesthesiology at the Amsterdam Medical Center (AMC). She is no stranger to SMMC as she worked as an Emergency Room Physician and Anesthesia Resident over ten years ago. After working at SMMC for a year, she returned to the Netherlands to continue her residency and went on to work at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, a hospital that specialized in oncological (cancer) care. She then moved to Curacao where she worked at the St. Elizabeth Hospital and the Curacao Medical Center (CMC).
When asked about why she chose anesthesiology, she replied “I knew early on anesthesia would fit me. I enjoyed the interaction with other specialties and working in a close-knit team in the operating theatre, being challenged by the acute physiology and the emergency care I could deliver. For most people, any operation, trip to the emergency department, or admission to the ICU is some sort of a life-altering event. It is very fulfilling to be able to make my patients feel at ease even in hectic or intense moments, and at the same time facilitate and motivate my colleagues to deliver their best care”.
After five years of working at CMC, Dr. Vreden and her family made the decision to move back to St. Maarten where she chose to become a permanent Anesthesiology specialist at SMMC. Speaking on her reasons for moving to St. Maarten, Dr. Vreden responded “My family and I always felt that we would eventually want to move back to St. Maarten so we were very happy when this opportunity arose. If you ask me ‘Why St. Maarten?’, I cannot give you a straight answer because there is just something special about this place and when I arrived at SMMC, I was very pleased to be greeted with the same kindness I remembered from 10 years ago”
In addition to her clinical duties as a general anesthesiologist, Dr. Vreden enjoys organizing acute care training and educational programs to empower healthcare personnel to increase patient safety, staff satisfaction, and quality of care and plans to continue to do so at SMMC. SMMC is proud to have Dr. Vreden in service as its newest Anesthesiologist and wishes her much success in her new role.