Matthijs Botman studied Medicine at the University of Amsterdam.He specialized as global health doctor following the unique Dutch postgraduate training program in global health and tropical medicine. He worked in the Republic of Congo and in Tanzania. Back in the Netherlands he was trained as a plastic, reconstructive and hand surgeon and developed a focus on limb reconstruction at the AmsterdamUMC. Since 2018, he is the general director of Global Surgery Amsterdam, a platform for education and research to improve access to essental surgical care worldwide.