Development of Academic Thoracic Surgery in Germany

In Germany, thoracic surgery is mainly represented at non-university thoracic surgery clinics. It is only established clinically as an independent department or clinic and scientifically as a W2 or W3 professorship at relatively few university hospitals. As a result, it is significantly more difficult to recruit junior specialists and to generate academically active thoracic surgeons as contact persons for researchers from the various fields of life and engineering sciences and for the further development of the field of thoracic surgery, than it is for other surgical specialities. In medical faculties, teaching, research and patient care are on an equal footing. For thoracic surgeons to take on these tasks, concepts are needed to expand and promote academic thoracic surgery in German university medicine. A structured curriculum for academic thoracic surgery can support an academic career in thoracic surgery in addition to mentoring programs, funding opportunities and additional freedom for research or teaching.