TRUST IN YOUR OWN STRENGTH AND ABILITY,
YOU MAKE AND DETERMINE YOUR OWN LIFE.
Fresh out of my training, I started working as Dr Pattij in the hospital's Surgery department. Those were long and demanding days. An average of 60 hours a week with long shifts and a great deal of responsibility. It didn't make me happier, so I decided to train as a military doctor.
This is how I was able to broaden my profession as a doctor. I trained abroad, learned to shoot and fly, did parachute jumps, and completed survival training. And I was deployed to Iraq. Without the move to the Air Force, I would never have had these kinds of opportunities. Since 2019 I've been specialising as a GP, so that I can be close to the patient. I'm happy in my career as a doctor and hope to complete my current training as a GP. In the meantime, I still work as a captain-doctor in the Air Force.
In January 2021 I became a mother. That means my biggest challenge and adventure is now right around the corner. Raising a fourth generation is truly my ultimate dream, now come true. I find this phase of my life very exciting.
Thinking of my grandfather and grandmother, I realise everything they had already been through at my age, everything they had to leave behind, and everything they had to put up with once in the Netherlands. In a completely foreign country they managed to hold their own and create a good life for their children and grandchildren. I honour their sacrifices by making the most of all the opportunities that life in the Netherlands offers; a good education that has led to meaningful and inspiring work, through which I can support myself. Personally, I therefore have no worries, but I realise all too well that I can live in health and with much love because of the choices and sacrifices my grandfather and grandmother made.
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Person portrayed
Thyrza Pattij
(1987, Culemborg)
Military doctor with the
Royal Netherlands Air Force
Lives in Culemborg - Photographer Ed Leatemia
