The institute’s groundbreaking methods and basic concepts have aroused interest far beyond the borders of Germany. More and more patients come to us from all parts of the world, above all from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the CIS countries, the Middle East and North Africa. Some of these are patients whose treatment is paid for by their governments or some other source, and some, especially children with unusual illnesses, are patients whose treatment can often only be partly financed, usually by donations from private persons and charitable organizations.

The further training of foreign physicians, as well as professionals from other fields, e. g. perfusionists at the Academy for Perfusionists, is a topic to which we are becoming increasingly committed. The trainees are mainly, but not exclusively, from China, Japan and Russia.

This is consistent with our policy of unprejudiced recruitment of staff from all parts of the world. As a result, among the "senior surgeons", who are the mainstays of our institute, there are as many foreigners as Germans, since in this field in particular it is the individual’s personal talent and experience, above all in the operating theatre, which are decisive for his or her performance and success. This was the underlying principle behind integrating staff from former East Germany after reunification, with the result that our team of physicians is now made up almost equally of "West Germans", "East Germans" and foreigners.

continuation