Interview with Prof. Huland on the faculty system
“Prof. Huland, you introduced the faculty system at the Martini-Klinik. What exactly does this involve?”
Prof. Huland: “This term relates to the structure of medical management in a clinic and is taken from the American system. In a typical German system, we have one senior consultant (Chefarzt), supported by consultants (Oberarzt) and other assisting doctors. Consultants are only at a clinic for a limited period and learn to operate so that, after completing this training, they can apply for a senior consultant position elsewhere. By contrast, the faculty system retains talented surgeons at a clinic on a permanent basis. We have twelve specialists who are effectively senior consultants and have found a lifetime position here at the Martini-Klinik.”
“So, how do your patients benefit from this faculty system?”
Prof. Huland: “A faculty system has a number of significant benefits for patients with a complicated and complex disease such as localised prostate carcinoma. Firstly, there is the fact that a surgeon will remain at this clinic and carry out their role for years, through to the end of their career, making them what we refer to a ‘high-volume’ surgeon. This means that they perform surgeries in their specialist field very frequently and are intimately familiar with their outcomes. So, each patient benefits from a highly experienced surgeon. Secondly, each faculty member has specialised in a specific sub-area of prostate cancer, which is already a small field in itself. One colleague is specialised in imaging techniques for screening and works to develop them, while another is responsible for developing innovations related to advanced prostate carcinoma, and so on. That brings a wealth of expertise to the team. Thirdly, the patient is only assigned one person as their specialist contact for the duration of their inpatient stay. Although we perform a lot of operations here, individual patients won’t notice that at all. Instead, they deal with a single person before, during and after the procedure, instead of being treated by several different doctors.”
“Does that mean that you have been able to attract these elite doctors to the clinic specifically because of the faculty system?”
Prof. Huland: “I would formulate it a little differently. Of the consultants I have had the pleasure to train, I have been able – thankfully – to recruit many of the best for the Martini-Klinik, which has enabled us to retain deep expertise in house.”
“Have you reached your limit or do you want to continue to grow?”
Prof. Huland: “We will expand our expertise. We are seeing significant developments in the field of imaging, while therapies for advanced prostate cancer have also taken great strides forward, and that will continue in future. Of course, we’re also playing with the notion of recruiting further talented and dedicated doctors to our clinic and expanding our faculty that way.”
