20 years ago, the professional associations from East and West came together in partnership.
With ceremony at the Saxony-Anhalt State Representation in Berlin the Professional Association of German Urologists (BDU) reminded on September 14th of the establishment of the joint professional association on September 27th 1990. According to the President of the BDU, Dr. med. Martin Bloch, the east-west association of urologists was the first among the professional associations. Their association has history that is typical of other professional organizations as well, as it was preceded by early contacts between East and West, and sometimes also by help from the West for colleagues in the East who were still inexperienced in professional policy.
The two chairmen of that time, Dr. med. Klaus Schalkhäuser (West) and Dr. med. Wolfgang Zacher (East). On January 31, 1990, Zacher wrote to Schalkhäuser to ask for support in founding an association. This was not unprepared, because in December 1989 his association had already given precautionary advice on what future professional representation in East Germany could look like. On June 30, 1990, the Professional Association East was founded in the lecture hall of surgery in Halle. When the introduction of the DM became known in the evening and the national anthem was spontaneously sung, Schalkhäuser experienced this as the most moving encounter of his life. You could still tell the movement today, on September 14, 2010, and it jumped over to his audience.
At the Berlin ceremony, Zacher also discussed the medical care before reunification. This was characterized by waiting lists, supply bottlenecks and lack of performance incentives. However, the level of professional knowledge was high, one reason why the doctors quickly found their way around the new healthcare system. The founding of the professional association in the east had already taken place with view to reunification. Zacher is still proud of the fact that he was able to “help shape part of the path to unity”.
Reports from both Schalkhäusers and Zacher's at the Berlin ceremony showed that the associations of East and West were cooperative and that the urologists apparently could avoid the fatal impression that East was being taken over by West.
20 years ago, the professional associations from East and West came together in partnership.
With ceremony at the Saxony-Anhalt State Representation in Berlin the Professional Association of German Urologists (BDU) reminded on September 14th of the establishment of the joint professional association on September 27th 1990. According to the President of the BDU, Dr. med. Martin Bloch, the east-west association of urologists was the first among the professional associations. Their association has history that is typical of other professional organizations as well, as it was preceded by early contacts between East and West, and sometimes also by help from the West for colleagues in the East who were still inexperienced in professional policy.
The two chairmen of that time, Dr. med. Klaus Schalkhäuser (West) and Dr. med. Wolfgang Zacher (East). On January 31, 1990, Zacher wrote to Schalkhäuser to ask for support in founding an association. This was not unprepared, because in December 1989 his association had already given precautionary advice on what future professional representation in East Germany could look like. On June 30, 1990, the Professional Association East was founded in the lecture hall of surgery in Halle. When the introduction of the DM became known in the evening and the national anthem was spontaneously sung, Schalkhäuser experienced this as the most moving encounter of his life. You could still tell the movement today, on September 14, 2010, and it jumped over to his audience.
At the Berlin ceremony, Zacher also discussed the medical care before reunification. This was characterized by waiting lists, supply bottlenecks and lack of performance incentives. However, the level of professional knowledge was high, one reason why the doctors quickly found their way around the new healthcare system. The founding of the professional association in the east had already taken place with view to reunification. Zacher is still proud of the fact that he was able to “help shape part of the path to unity”.
Reports from both Schalkhäusers and Zacher's at the Berlin ceremony showed that the associations of East and West were cooperative and that the urologists apparently could avoid the fatal impression that East was being taken over by West.At the beginning of his report, Schalkhäuser paid due respect to the people in East Germany: The fall of the Berlin Wall was the only success of the GDR citizens.
In greeting, the President of the German Medical Association, Prof. Dr. med. Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, to the drafting of the further training regulations, in which East and West German experiences were incorporated and which was already adopted at the German Medical Association in 1992. Dr. med. Ulrich Oesingmann, chairman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and today President of the Federal Association of Liberal Professions, praised the courageous development work of doctors in East Germany “for system unknown to them”. The introduction of self-administration was also challenge for the adaptability of the system and practical test for the structures developed in the West.
The former Evangelical Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Huber, at the invitation of the Urologists Association, dealt with “solidarity and personal responsibility” in the health care system, for Huber no contradictions, because: Those who take personal responsibility also increase the scope for solidarity. Huber expressed skepticism about the prevalence of the economization of the health system. The “dictates of the economy” and the associated time pressure left too little time for personal attention. Huber advocated an old virtue that was going out of fashion: mercy.
Norbert Jachertz
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