Heleen Snijders

About Heleen Snijders

Heleen Snijders is a surgeon, speaker, moderator, medical entrepreneur, and a sought-after medical expert in the media. From her daily practice, she observes how physical complaints often reveal more than what is visible on scans, blood tests, or within guidelines. This fascination with the connection between body, behavior, stress, and health is the common thread in her work.

As a surgeon, Heleen has specialized in proctology and pelvic floor issues: fields where complaints like pain, incontinence, constipation, and sexual problems often come with shame and silence. It was there that she discovered how crucial it is to pay attention to the story behind the complaint. Because what is not spoken can often manifest through the body.

In addition to her clinical work, Heleen is actively involved in healthcare innovation. She is a co-initiator of Nurses Know Better, a movement that helps nurses make their voices heard within healthcare organizations. Themes such as psychological safety, leadership, authority, and appropriate care run like a thread through her work.

The general public knows Heleen as a medical commentator on television, radio, and online media. With her clear explanations, humor, and ability to make complex medical topics accessible, she translates science into stories that touch people and make them think.

As a speaker, Heleen takes her audience into the fascinating interplay between body and mind, health and behavior, science and human experience. She combines medical knowledge with personal stories, scientific insights, and practical examples from the consultation room and the operating theater.

As a moderator, Heleen is adept at striking the right tone. Thanks to her medical expertise, curiosity, and sharp questions, she deepens conversations, connects diverse perspectives, and creates a safe, energetic atmosphere where speakers and audience alike thrive. With her natural flair, humor, and improvisation skills, she keeps the pace and makes even complex themes accessible and interactive.

Heleen is known for her ability to address sensitive and often uncomfortable topics. Whether it’s about bowel issues, menopause complaints, stress, shame, psychological safety, or culture within organizations, she uses expertise, openness, and humor to break taboos and create space for honest conversations.

Her lectures are energetic, content-rich, and interactive. She prompts her audience to see health, collaboration, and change differently and gives a voice to what often remains unspoken.

Themes that frequently recur in her lectures include stress and the body, women’s health, health behavior, psychological safety, leadership, healthcare innovation, taboos in healthcare, and the question of how organizations can better listen to the people who make a difference every day.

Her mission is simple yet powerful: “If it doesn’t have a voice, it becomes a complaint.”