Medicine is a very interesting subject. As a surgeon, you can even see the results of your work immediately, see how people recover. That was the idea. What I found in most hospitals was not what I had expected. Correctly coding a diagnosis and treating as many patients as possible was my daily routine. This was not what I felt was optimal to improve my practical medical skills. The time I spent with the patients was far too short. In a total of six different hospitals, both private and public, I was looking for a working environment in which I felt comfortable. Even after I had qualified as a specialist in plastic and aesthetic surgery, hand surgery and emergency medicine and had climbed the career ladder, I didn’t really find what I was looking for. I thought I probably couldn’t even find it as a chief resident or practice owner.
I took a break, during which I looked elsewhere for solutions to my problem. Motivated by alternative work concepts such as Buurtzorg, I did numerous coaching sessions, courses in self-management, e-health, storytelling, participated in Working out Loud circles and read many books.The first step in realising these new skills was my new job at PAAU as a kind of COO and head of the PAAU Academy. At PAAU, we began to cultivate a community of practice of physicians who could support and grow with each other in a safe, trusting environment. Doctors who work with PAAU should be happy doctors who are not just thrown in at the deep end. This concept has proven to be extremely successful. The doctors most active in this community learnt, I would say, five times as fast as others who took the traditional learning route.
This success did not go unnoticed. It led to the next step: a collaboration between the German Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (DGPRÄC) and PAAU to build a digital learning environment for the field of aesthetic injectable treatments. In October 2024, three courses concluded at the DGPRÄC congress in the form of two hands-on days. The certificate ceremony was very moving for me.
About my qualifications: Four years of experience in a large private practice for aesthetic surgery in Hamburg. I was a faculty member, speaker and trainer at the Allergan Medical Institute for many years. In this context, I took part in the exclusive Allergan Mentee Programme in 2022, where I was trained 1:1 by Mauricio de Maio himself.