Mrs. Kruijthof is at home in many fields: at the VU she studied medicine and public administration. She obtained her PhD on research into the control of medical specialists in Dutch hospitals. She is no stranger to her new work environment, because the AMC was also involved in her research.
After two years in clinical practice, she held policy and management positions in various hospitals. As a member of the three-person board of directors of the Rotterdam Franciscus Gasthuis and the Schiedam Vlietland Hospital, she was intensively involved in the merger between the two institutions.