National Staff
Irene de Bruijn
Irene has been HTCC’s administrative manager since March 2004. Her overall job is to take care of the day-to-day tasks in the running of the HTCC office, which in any given day can range from answering the phone and emails to making the arrangements for board and committee meetings.

CHTs recognize Irene’s Australian accent as she assists them with entering professional development and work hours on the computer, answering their questions and assuring them that they have completed the processes to certify or recertify correctly. Her reassuring calm is often commented on by grateful candidates. When she’s not on the phone, she also processes certification and recertification applications, updates records, and makes sure our plants get watered!

Prior to raising her family of three children, Irene began her career in administration after leaving high school in 1967. In 1968 she joined the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service and served four years in nursing. After leaving the Navy in 1972 Irene held positions in both administrative and nursing fields combining her skills. While still in Australia she spent two years working for a group of pathologists and two years for a reconstruction/hand surgeon in Adelaide. In 1978, Irene moved back to her country of birth, The Netherlands and spent 7 years in that country. After mastering the language she became an editor/translator for a Translation Bureau. Her knowledge of both the English and Dutch languages placed her in a position to help translate medical articles for orthopaedic interns. During this time she also held the position of Secretary to the head of the Dept of Orthopaedics at the University of Nijmegen. Her job also involved editing and preparing an oncology publication for a prominent Mayo Clinic Orthopaedic Surgeon.

Back in Australia and after raising her family she worked for six years in an administrative position as supervisor of a telemarketing group for the facsimile division of Canon Australia. She moved to the US with her family in 2000. In addition to working at HTCC, Irene enjoys singing, sewing, sous-cheffing, and sailing.