News
Teddy bear hospital, stitching wounds and endoscopy course
17 Sept 2024
More than 8,000 visitors took a look behind the scenes at Bavaria's largest university hospital on the "50 years of LMU Klinikum Großhadern" open day.
Goal wall shooting with Sandro Wagner, experiencing weightlessness in the Spacecurl or a visit to the teddy bear hospital - on Saturday, September 14, around 8,000 visitors gained an insight into the world of cutting-edge medicine, research and teaching at the open day at LMU Klinikum Großhadern. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Großhadern campus: On September 16, 1974, the first patient was admitted to the new Großhadern University Hospital. Over 90 program items were presented by clinics, institutes and departments at the open day - from paediatric surgery, psychiatry and hospital chaplaincy to the company fire department and emergency medicine.
In his opening speech, Science Minister Markus Blume emphasized the importance of the Großhadern Campus: "Medical history has been written at the Future Campus Großhadern for 50 years and this is just the beginning! The LMU Klinikum provides research, care and training at the highest level at the Großhadern site - a unique success story that we are continuing with the HighMed Agenda. Our claim: In Großhadern we are building the most modern hospital in Europe and thus creating the best conditions for the best medicine - together we are setting international medical standards!"
In the subsequent panel discussion with Medical Director Prof. Markus M. Lerch, DFB co-trainer Sandro Wagner, heart transplant patient, author and influencer Tamara Schwab and ESA astronaut Dr. Thomas Reiter spoke about their long-standing connection to Großhadern Hospital. Tamara Schwab spoke about her long journey to a new heart, which was transplanted in Großhadern - and emphasized the importance of organ donation: "We need to talk about it and bring the topic to the center of society," she said. "That's the reason why I'm standing here today."
Kick-off event Open Day at the LMU Klinikum Großhadern (de)
51 min | 18 Sept 2024
Sandro Wagner was born at Großhadern Hospital and is the godfather of the future children's hospital “Das Neue Hauner”, which is currently being built next to the ward block. He emphasized how important it is for young people to get moving and do sport - also as an alternative to media consumption: “If we as adults manage to show our children and young people that it is better to interact in person than to consume on a cell phone, then a great deal has already been achieved.”
ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter emphasized the importance of the Munich metropolitan region as one of three focal points of the space industry in Germany. As part of this, he presented the LMU Klinikum's space research, which is investigating the effects of weightlessness on the immune system, among other things. The next experiment is due to be launched on the ISS in the near future.
Action in the casino
Tapping, goal wall shooting and basketball
The official tapping of the keg for the Open Day took place in the LMU Clinic's casino, which still looks very much like it did in the 1970s. It took Prof. Markus M. Lerch, Medical Director of the LMU Clinic, three taps before the beer flowed. Musical entertainment was provided by the band Vieto's SteeCafé and the male choir of the Münchner Liedertafel. In the casino, visitors young and old were also able to compete in sports: in the goal wall shooting with DFB co-trainer Sandro Wagner and in the throwing challenge with the FC Bayern basketball players.
Hands-on medicine
Whether pipetting, taking footprints in the delivery room or stitching wounds under the operating microscope - visitors were able to test and improve their medical knowledge at numerous hands-on activities: In the ambulance hall, emergency medicine was on show with plaster casts of broken bones, resuscitation exercises and a simulation trainer where teams could train how to solve critical situations together in an emergency. In the teddy bear hospital, young visitors were able to examine and treat their stuffed animals together with medical students. The Medical Clinic I (Cardiology) used a model to show what is examined during echocardiography. Next door, the pulmonologists from the LMU Clinic used a model of a walk-in lung to explain how it works. More than 150 visitors had their lung function tested there. Experience weightlessness and test your balance - this was possible in the Spacecurl at the German Dizziness and Balance Center. In the Clinic for General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, interested visitors were able to practise their dexterity and three-dimensional thinking on laparoscopy box trainers.
A look behind the scenes
What actually happens in nuclear medicine? What does it look like in a children's palliative care center? How are medical products processed under sterile conditions? How does an intensive care unit work? How does the outpatient pain clinic help? Numerous guided tours gave an insight into areas that are rarely open to the public in everyday life. The pediatric heart surgery team had set up a real operating theatre in a conference room and showed how a child's heart is operated on. At the gastroenterology endoscopy course, interested visitors learned how to endoscopically mirror a stomach. The team from the palliative care unit used the open day to present their work to visitors - in keeping with the 25th anniversary of the Clinic for Palliative Medicine. They were able to view a patient room and an overnight room for relatives and ask the staff questions.
Broad medical spectrum of the LMU Clinic
At the 90 information stands along the visitor route and corridors, interested visitors were given an insight into the wide range of specialist areas at the hospital, including topics such as strokes, dementia, cancer, physical medicine and vascular surgery. This gave guests the opportunity to talk directly to experts in fields such as nutritional medicine, transfusion medicine and tropical medicine. Visitors were able to gain an insight into the many facets of nursing care at an information stand and during a guided tour of the outpatient surgery center. On the job island, decorated with deckchairs and fishing nets, employees from the HR department provided information about the numerous job opportunities as well as training and further education at LMU Klinikum, the third largest employer in Munich. The neighboring information stands on company health management and sustainability rounded off the presentation of the LMU Klinikum as an employer.
A varied lecture program
For all those interested in medicine, there was a broad program of lectures in three lecture halls. From topics such as “Mental illness” and “Radiotherapy” to “Sustainability in hospital operations”, complex medical content was presented in a way that laypeople could understand. The lecture “What plastic surgery can do: reconstruction from head to toe” by the Department of Hand, Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery and the presentations on air rescue and emergency medicine at the LMU Clinic attracted a great deal of interest.
A look into the future and the past
Another highlight was a look into the past and the future of the Grosshadern Campus: Visitors were able to learn more about the planned new buildings in an exhibition with construction models, including “Das Neue Hauner”, the Cardiopulmonary Vascular Center, the Oncology Center and the Diagnostic Center. Particularly impressive was the “leap in time” to the year 2034 with large-format panels showing the future view of the eastern end of the Großhadern campus. In another interactive exhibition, the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) presented the various options for cancer prevention and treatment.
Thanks to everyone involved
“I was most impressed by the enthusiasm with which the employees talked about their work in their presentations, during the guided tours and at the information stands,” summarized Prof. Markus M. Lerch, Medical Director of the LMU Clinic. “The Executive Board would like to thank all those involved for showing the LMU Clinic from its most exciting and human side at the Open Day.” A big thank you also goes to the cooperation partners of the LMU Klinikum, who presented their offers at the Open Day, as well as the numerous companies that supported the event with their donations in kind.