Trauma Surgeon and KLM Pilot/Former Fighter Pilot
TopKnife is the only speaker duo in the world that brings together a trauma surgeon and a pilot. This unique combination offers organizations a dual perspective on high-performance teamwork, crisis management, and decision-making under pressure.
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Arvid Munzebrock consciously chose medicine after high school, driven by an interest in acute care, teamwork, and decision-making under pressure.
From 1997 to 2004, he studied Medicine at the University of Groningen. During this training, he completed his internships, including a period at the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Curaçao. This international experience strengthened his interest in surgical and acute medicine.
He completed his surgical training at the Medical Center Leeuwarden, the University Medical Center Groningen, and the Martini Hospital Groningen. He then further specialized with a fellowship in trauma surgery at UMCG and an additional fellowship in trauma surgery at the Unfallklinikum Innsbruck, where he worked in a high-volume trauma center dealing with complex injuries and multidisciplinary decision-making.
Since 2013, Arvid has been working as a trauma surgeon at the former Medical Center Leeuwarden, now Frisius MC. In his daily work, he combines clinical sharpness with attention to team dynamics, preparation, and evaluation. Training and mentoring young doctors and colleagues is an important focus; he has a pronounced interest in learning from case studies, feedback, and structured debriefing.
In addition to his clinical work, Arvid is a co-founder of TopKnife. Through this platform, he translates insights from trauma care and aviation into leadership, teamwork, and performance under pressure in organizations, together with a former fighter pilot and KLM pilot. The focus is on practical applicability, an open learning culture, and better utilizing experiences from both successes and mistakes.
Bart van de Bergh is a commercial pilot at KLM and a former fighter pilot and instructor with the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Even during his high school years, it was clear to him that he wanted to become a fighter pilot. During his more than seventeen years in the Air Force, he flew the F-16 and the CF-18 Hornet, served as Mission Commander, and led multinational operations and large-scale international exercises such as Frisian Flag and squadron deployments abroad.
Throughout his military career, Bart operated in high-risk environments and under significant pressure, including deployments to war zones. His roles combined tactical leadership, flight safety, and complex mission planning, often with limited information and under extreme time pressure. These experiences form the basis of his vision on decision-making, teamwork, and leadership when the stakes are high and mistakes can have serious consequences.
Today, Bart flies for KLM on the Boeing 777 and 787. Additionally, he is a co-founder of TopKnife, alongside trauma surgeon Arvid Munzebrock. In their lectures and interactive sessions, they combine practical experience from aviation and the medical field to explore how individuals and teams perform under pressure. By bringing together these two high-risk domains, they translate insights on decision-making, communication, and leadership into concrete and applicable lessons for organizations, with a strong emphasis on learning from mistakes through structured debriefing and reflection.
TopKnife is the only speaker duo in the world that brings together a trauma surgeon and a pilot. This unique combination offers organizations a dual perspective on high-performance teamwork, crisis management, and decision-making under pressure.
While other speakers talk about theory or speak from a single perspective, TopKnife brings together two concrete, complementary practices. The result? Stories and insights that resonate deeply and are directly applicable for organizations dealing with complexity, speed, and high expectations.
How to make decisions when time, risks, and impact are at their maximum — with lessons from trauma surgery and aviation.
What operating teams and cockpit crews teach us about role allocation, communication, and trust.
Practical tools to keep thinking clearly, interpret signals, and prioritise actions in stressful situations.
Practical cases where multidisciplinary teams perform together under uncertain and dynamic conditions.
How clear communication, checklists, and scenario thinking before execution lead to fewer errors, less stress, and better team performance under pressure.
How structured reflection after an action turns incidents into insights, enabling a safe learning culture and continuous improvement.
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