Dr. JP Smedema

About Dr Smedema

About Dr Jan-Peter Smedema

Dr Smedema has been working as a general and interventional cardiologist-in-private-practice with the Netcare Hospital Group, the largest provider of private healthcare in Southern Africa since 2005.

On the 1st of January 2019 Dr Smedema completed his PhD and published his Thesis on: 

Delayed-Enhanced Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in the diagnosis and management of Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Cardiologist Since 2002

Jan-Peter Smedema was born on May 1st 1964 in Sneek, The Netherlands. 

He attended high school in Den Helder, and studied Medicine at the Free University in Amsterdam. After finishing his compulsory basic military training he enjoyed working in the Respiratory Unit, Department of Medicine, at the Central Military Hospital in Utrecht (1989-1990). His first clinical work experience as civilian was in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (Prof L Eysman, 1990-1991) and the Amsterdam Department of Interventional Cardiology (Dr F Kiemeney,1991-1992) at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis

The doors of opportunity and clinical exposure beckoned in South Africa. Starting in the Cardiac Unit at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, Medical University of South Africa, Pretoria (Prof P Magobo) and Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg (Prof P Sareli, 1992). In 1993 he transferred to Tygerberg Hospital, the training hospital of Stellenbosch University, where he finished his training as a specialist physician (FCP (SA), MMed (Int Med), 1998), and enrolled in the cardiology training program (Prof AF Doubell). Whilst working in the Cardiac Unit, he encountered his first patient with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS), an encounter which ignited a life-long fascination with this condition.

He visited professor AC van Rossum (VUMC, Amsterdam), immersed himself in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and started a local CMR program in Cape Town. After marrying his sweetheart CMR radiographer (who taught him more than just the basics of CMR), he took up professor D Pennell’s invitation of a CMR fellowship at the Royal Brompton (2000). Subsequently he finished his clinical training as a cardiologist at the Thorax Centre, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Prof ML Simoons, 2002), where he met dr Robert-Jan van Geuns. They combined efforts and studied CS with delayed enhanced CMR (DECMR) in Rotterdam.

Their collaboration continued after Jan-Peter was appointed as consultant cardiologist at Maastricht University Medical Centre (2002). Under the tutelage of professors AP Gorgels and HJGM Crijns his preliminary work studying of the value of DECMR in the management of CS, expanded formally into a PhD project. In 2005 he was invited to return to Cape Town to provide cardiovascular imaging services, and be trained in interventional cardiology (dr A Saaiman). 

He was appointed honourary consultant at the Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, and studied cardiomyopathy and tuberculous heart disease with DECMR (professors BM Mayosi and G Ainslie, 2005-2006). Since 2005 he has practiced as an interventional cardiologist with Netcare in Cape Town. Jan-Peter developed an interest in stroke medicine, joined a local stroke team, and obtained the MSc (Stroke Medicine), through the European Stroke Organization/Danube University, Austria (2015). 

He is currently enrolled in the Sports and Exercise Medicine program at the Sport Science Institute of South Africa (MPhil, UCT), and hopes to qualify as a sports physician in 2022.

Jan-Peter is actively involved in clinical cardiovascular research of both able-bodied and paraplegic endurance athletes (running, cycling, swimming, tri-athletes) in close collaboration with professors Jeroen Swart (SSISA) and Wayne Derman (SAS/SU).

Awards: Best oral presentation, South African Heart Association meeting 2010 (Sun City, Holistic Heart Care).