TSMU graduate student trained at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Graduate student of Kovalchuk Department of Surgery Stepan Hrytsenko, trained at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany for 4 weeks in June and July 2017. The internship was made possible by the United Global Gastroenterology Association’s Visiting Fellowships for Clinicians.

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, UKE) is among the most modern in Europe. It is comprised of 14 centers, over 80 hospitals, clinics and institutes working as an interdisciplinary structureThere are 1,346 beds. Every year 89,000 patients undergo inpatient and 275,000 outpatient treatment.

Map of the hospital with clinical centers

The purpose of Stepan Hrytsenko’s internship was to improve his skills and acquire new practical and theoretical experience in such areas as non-invasive treatment of obesity, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer. UKE was a fitting place for the internship, since this clinical structure has significant experience in the surgical treatment of pancreatic and periampullary diseases. It is also one of the largest obesity treatment centers in Germany.

Especially valuable part of the internship was the opportunity to observe the work of the legend of German surgery, prof. Jakob Izbicki. He always found time to answer Stepan’s questions and clarify ambiguities. Communication with Dr. Izbicki was yet another demonstration that people of high professional and research achievements are often easygoing and open to share their knowledge with younger generation.

 Prof. Jakob Izbicki and Stepan Hrytsenko

The internship was extremely intense with a lot of the time being spent in the operating rooms. Important values of the department’s work were multidisciplinary approach, striving for perfection and adherence to international protocols.

Almost 90% surgeries in this department are minimally invasive, and the complexity of laparoscopic surgical interventions speaks for itself: pancreatic, diastolic and distal pancreatic resections, liver resection, colorectomy, ventral hernia procedures, mini-gastric bypass and many others. It should be noted that the clinic employs 6 DaVinci robots. Many surgical procedures (mainly colorectal surgery) wer performed with the help of robotic technologies.

Robotic frontal resection of the rectum

Another interesting experience was assisting in several pancreatoduodenal resections with vascular reconstructions and extended lymph node dissections.

Internship mentor prof. Asmus Heumann performs surgical procedure

Surgical treatment of patients with morbid obesity and concomitant diabetes in the Medical Center has high success rate, with about 90% of type 2 diabetes patients healed after this treatment.

Stomach resection performed by prof. Oliver Mann

Stepan Hrytsenko wishes to express his sincere thanks to the association of United European Gastroenterology, internship mentor Prof. Asmus Heumann, his colleagues Prof. Oliver Mann, and Prof. Maxmilian Bockhorn, who shared their experience and contributed to his stay in the UKE.

During his stay in Hamburg, Stepan Hrytsenko had the opportunity to visit Ukrainian servicemen, who are being treated at a military hospital. Since their arrival, Ukrainian diaspora in Germany has been busy helping the men in every possible way through financial assistance, communication with their families and other matters. Since the start Russian-Ukrainian conflict thousands of injured soldiers underwent medical in Germany, including expensive reconstruction surgeries and rehabilitation treatment, with financial assistance form the German government.

Young scholars and students are invited to look for educational and training grant opportunities in the areas such as surgery, oncology, gastroenterology, etc, through relevant European associations:

UNITED EUROPEAN GASTROENTEROLOGY https://www.ueg.eu/

EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR MEDICAL ONCOLOGY http://www.esmo.org/

EUROPEAN DIGESTIVE SURGERY http://www.edsurgery.org/

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF DIGESTIVE ONCOLOGY http://www.esdo.eu/

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY http://www.essoweb.org/