Campus Brandenburg an der Havel: Inauguration and Open Day
Neuruppin, 11 April 2017
The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) commenced operations in Neuruppin in April 2015 after four years of intensive preparation. According to schedule, the first class of medical students now moved from the Neuruppin campus to Brandenburg an der Havel to start their 5th semester in the Brandenburg medical model curriculum.
This was the occasion for a ceremony with about 200 guests from science, politics, health care and society at the city hall of Brandenburg an der Havel to inaugurate the new campus building on Sunday, 9 April 2017, from 1 p.m.
Brandenburg’s mayor Dr. Dietlind Tiemann who acted as a presenter welcomed the MHB students in town: “Today’s campus inauguration will establish Brandenburg an der Havel more firmly as a health location and in the longer term also promote medical care by young physicians with practice oriented training for the population in the town and the state of Brandenburg. Although not all details have been fixed yet, first evaluation results confirm that the MHB is well under way.”
Dr. Ulrike Gutheil, state secretary from the Brandenburg Ministry of Science, Research and Cultural Affairs, quoted Theodor Fontane for whom courage was an indispensable requirement for success: “Your courage and hard work have paid off. Much has been achieved and set on a successful course at the MHB in a short period of time. The institution is right on track and honing its academic profile.”
She found words of praise in particular for teaching. “The future oriented concept of the Brandenburg medical model curriculum attracts national attention and is ahead of time,” said Gutheil with reference to the Master plan 2020 for reforms and modernization in medical education recently adopted by federal and Länder governments. “Many targets listed in the Master plan, such as more practice orientation in teaching or a stronger focus on general medicine, already form part of the Brandenburg model curriculum. Results of the Progress Test in Medicine with 16 medical schools from all over Germany attested above-average performance to MHB students.”
Dipl.-Med. Frank Ulrich Schulz, president of the regional medical association and himself a citizen of Brandenburg an der Havel, welcomed the Master plan 2020 and the pioneering role assumed by Brandenburg and the MHB in this context.
Welcoming the students who moved from Neuruppin to Brandenburg, MHB dean Prof. Dr. Edmund Neugebauer expressed much satisfaction that the new campus building was finished in time and with excellent results. The focus of his speech was on digitization: “Digitization will change the health system as much as the invention of letterpress printing once changed the world. Today’s patients have access to medical knowledge via the internet, which changes the doctor-patient relation and will certainly change the roles of family doctors and general practitioners to a significant degree. We at the MHB aim to educate good physicians and prepare you for future developments in the best possible manner.” He wished them good luck for the next stage in their studies.
Prof. Dr. med. Ansgar W. Lohse (internal medicine and gastroenterology / university clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf) gave the keynote lecture on “teaching and research in modern medical curricula”. He concluded with best wishes for the MHB in terms of patience, luck, money – and success.
Uli Krieg as the architect in charge then presented Prof. Dr. Edmund Neugebauer with a symbolic key to the new campus building, produced from a brass plate which was found during renovations of the building that dates back to the late nineteenth century.
From 3 p.m. interested citizens were invited to an Open Day on the new MHB campus in the heart of the town. A number of activity stations on several floors awaited visitors and encouraged them to take blood samples from model units, “revive” dummies or explore the “Herzhose”, the leg cuffs for innovative treatment of vascular disorders. Summing up his impressions Prof. Neugebauer underlined that the MHB is well prepared for the next stage of studies, with ideal study conditions on the new campus in Brandenburg an der Havel in collaboration with the local hospital (Städtisches Klinikum Brandenburg).
