Student teaching

Open-heart surgery is performed in our eleven operating theatres at the DHZC. Our job is to accompany patients through this extremely critical process: While the heart is stopped for a few hours and the circulation is taken over by a machine, we ensure that the brain and other organs are optimally protected. Students can join us in the operating theatre and gain practical insights into these and other topics and issues:

• Which catheters must a patient be fitted with in order to get through a heart operation safely?
• What are the secrets behind the curves of the monitoring monitors?
• How can we use ultrasound to check whether the heart valves and muscles are working properly and whether the result of the heart operation is perfect?
• How do we ensure that patients can return to normal life after a heart transplant or artificial heart implantation?
• Why do we have to perform heart surgery on some particularly sick premature babies on their first day of life?
• What critical incidents do we have to protect our patients from?
• Why is the work of a cardioanaesthetist similar in principle to that of an aircraft pilot?

Our ultrasound simulators, on which cardioanaesthetists are trained in structured courses, are also used in practical student lessons. After these ‘dry runs’, our cardioanaesthetists demonstrate how (patho)physiology is applied in practice in the operating theatre and intensive care unit. We are of the opinion that haptic, i.e. practical learning is much more efficient and sustainable than the traditional double combination of ‘book-learning’ and lectures. This is what our Clinic Director Professor O'Brien stands for as the holder of Germany's first Chair of Cardioanaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Charité.

Learning in practice

Students from all year groups spend short periods of time in our three intensive care units as part of their examination courses and their ‘bedside teaching’. Our doctors are also active in the simulation courses at the Charité Mitte campus. If you are interested in an internship (1-5 days) or clinical traineeship (at least 2 weeks) in our department, you are welcome to apply for a place at cai-team@dhzc-charite.de. Please ask explicitly for cardioanaesthesiological intensive care or cardioanaesthesia in the operating theatre. Priority is given to those who wish to spend a longer period of time with us. Students of all semesters are welcome in the intensive care unit. In the cardiac surgery operating theatre, we recommend that you already have general anaesthesiological experience or that you only apply from the third year onwards.

Term paper or doctorate

If you are particularly interested in our work, you are also welcome to write your term paper or doctoral thesis with us. Key topics include

• Risk stratification in cardioanaesthesia,
• optimal use of imaging techniques
• haemodynamic management,
• special features of interventional therapy and
• blood-saving measures in paediatric cardioanaesthesia.