15/04/2026
Returning to where it all began.
This weekend, I found myself back in KU Leuven—the institution where I trained as a young medical student in the early 1990s.
Walking through Leuven again, I was struck by how much has changed—and yet how much remains the same. The city has evolved, but the foundations laid during those years remain deeply embedded in how I practice medicine today.
Those years were not without challenge.
Learning medicine in Flemish was, at times, incredibly difficult. There were moments of frustration, periods where progress felt slow, and times where the path forward wasn’t entirely clear. Like any meaningful journey, it came with its share of obstacles.
But there were also great moments—moments of growth, clarity, and purpose.
And in the end, those moments outweighed everything else.
What that experience taught me—more than anything—was resilience. The importance of staying focused, pushing forward, and maintaining a will to succeed.
KU Leuven
