Surgery is undergoing change. Fuelled by rapid developments in new materials and imaging techniques, there is an increasing shift toward a combination between interventional and open surgery techniques.
Hybrid surgery is an ideal way to achieve this, both for technical reasons and in spatial terms. To make strategic investments work in the long term with respect to clinical and financial considerations, a decisive factor will be the training of specialist staff. The Steinbeis Transfer Institute for Medical Innovations and Management at Steinbeis University Berlin has developed an innovative method for training Hybrid OP Technicians (HOT).
Hybrid operations (Hybrid OPs) require a fully equipped operating room (OR) with the very latest imaging systems. With the right equipment, an excellent basis can be established for minimal invasive interventions. There are already around 200 such ORs in clinical use in Germany, with this number growing all the time. Despite the high initial outlay of up to _2.5 million, an increasing number of small and medium-sized hospitals are planning an investment. That said, in practice more and more surgeons are finding that expensive, state-of-the-art ORs are not always put to full use as sometimes there is a lack of specialists with the right training, or people are afraid of trying out the new technology.
This is why training is required before such situations arise. Specialists working in these types of ORs face a number of new challenges including special, complex routines, different equipment, and interdisciplinary procedures. The technology and clinical procedures also develop incredibly quickly making it necessary for specialists to receive regular training to keep them up to speed. The Steinbeis Transfer Institute for Medical Innovations and Management (MIM) is now working with the JR OP Academy to offer previously unique continuing professional development courses to become a Hybrid OP Technician (HOT). Their aim is to give medical staff training on the special demands placed by modern imaging-based treatment in the surgical environment. Training also covers the fundamentals of modern imaging and processes, as well as different ways to provide radiation protection and position patients in the right way. There is also scientific instruction on materials and instruments, providing the required basic understanding of a variety of different medical aspects relating to procedures. The aim is for course participants to understand the interplay between the radiology and cardiology specialists on the one hand, and surgery staff on the other.
The HOT training will start in April 2016 and is offered as a modular certification course. Each module is run with different university and hospital partners, including The Charité hospital in Berlin, the German Heart Institute Berlin (DHZB), Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Weiden hospital, and Ludwigsburg hospital. The program is also supported by leading medical technology firms such as Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Philips Health Tech and GE Healthcare. The emphasis of instruction lies in the practical aspects of Hybrid OPs, so training includes live operations. E-learning modules and webinars are also being offered to build on practical modules.
Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Meissner
Steinbeis-Transfer-Institut Medical Innovations and Management (Thannhausen)
oliver.meissner@stw.de
The Master of Arts in General Management and Master of Science in International Management programs offered by the School of International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE) at Steinbeis University Berlin have been awarded premium certification by the international accreditation agency FIBAA.
Following the successful re-accreditation of its degree programs, SIBE has been awarded premium certification by FIBAA for the quality of its degrees and instruction. This places SIBE in an exclusive circle of universities which have been bestowed premium certification by the FIBAA organization. Out of the more than 300 master’s programs accredited by FIBAA, only 2% have been named premium programs. For students on the program, this means that their degree program not only fulfills quality requirements, it actual exceeds them – by a long shot!
Saarland University (Saar-Uni) is offering a master’s degree program in materials and processes in collaboration with Steinbeis University Berlin. The degree is aimed at people in full-time employment and was designed to prepare students working in industry for development challenges. Companies participating in the program benefit from knowledge and technology transfer in two ways. Their employees receive high-caliber education and during the course of their studies, they work on a project related to a materials issue at the company. The students also receive support from materials scientists at Saar-Uni, who offer training on behalf of Steinbeis University Berlin in research-related topics throughout Germany.
“According to an academic study on the technology sciences, around 70 percent of German exports are successful in international markets because they include innovative materials,” explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Mücklich, Director of the Steinbeis Research Center for Materials Technology (MECS), director of the Steinbeis Transfer Institute caMPlusQ, professor for functional materials at Saar-Uni, and director of the new degree program. “Our aim over the four semesters of the new master’s degree in materials and processes is to teach specialists from industry about the latest developments in materials science and materials technology research, with a leaning towards process engineering. They benefit from a wide scope of teaching areas and research topics, plus the diversity of laboratory technology on the Saarbrücken university campus,” continues Mücklich.
Working with material researchers at Saar-Uni and other research establishments based on the campus, students attend classroom session modules lasting two days, looking at a broad selection of topics which are supplemented by e-learning modules. To be eligible for the degree, students require a bachelor or equivalent in an area relevant to engineering or science and should be working for a manufacturing company or similar organization. The new degree program is based on project skills concepts developed by Steinbeis University Berlin.
The degree and research activities at the university are subject to university fees of _35,000. The master’s degree will be launched as soon as at least 10 people have registered for the program. “There are so many small and medium-sized companies in Germany involved in the development of tailor-made materials for industry, but often they haven’t got their own development departments or highly specialized lab equipment,” explains Mücklich. By working closely with the university, research findings can be applied more quickly to products and this also helps the companies involved gain not only competitive advantage but also developed, qualified personnel.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Mücklich
Steinbeis Research Center Materials Technology (MECS) (Saarbrücken)
SSteinbeis Transfer Institute caMPlusQ (Saarbrücken)
frank.muecklich@stw.de
Saarland University (Saar-Uni) is offering a master’s degree program in materials and processes in collaboration with Steinbeis University Berlin. The degree is aimed at people in full-time employment and was designed to prepare students working in industry for development challenges. Companies participating in the program benefit from knowledge and technology transfer in two ways. Their employees receive high-caliber education and during the course of their studies, they work on a project related to a materials issue at the company. The students also receive support from materials scientists at Saar-Uni, who offer training on behalf of Steinbeis University Berlin in research-related topics throughout Germany.
What’s the difference between a leader and a manager? What’s the best way for managers to organize their work in order to avoid an uninterrupted string of meetings? And what do managers need when they lose their status as the only expert on a given topic? One thing is certain: leadership is multidimensional and not to be underestimated, similar to organizations and how each part interacts. This systemic approach to companies and the people that work for them places new demands on strategies and business instruments, as well as the issue of what good management development actually is or how it should work.
Re-thinking leadership is a challenge posed to participants of a new certification course on leadership and a culture of innovation offered by the Steinbeis Transfer Institute for Systems Science, Management and Consulting Services. Over the course of several months, students on the program examine leadership, communication, management culture, business culture, team development, conflict management, innovation management, and knowledge management. Each session starts by looking at individual practice to allow course participants to work through their own personal topics. The aim is to understand just how empowering new knowledge can be, and to integrate this into people’s situation at work. The students can use the time between classroom sessions to check their own progress using templates and think more about their experiences with leadership. This is important, given the way leadership sometimes happens “in the background.” Attention is directed toward leaders’ own actions so that conscious thought is given to their management style in everyday business.
Karola Jamnig-Stellmach
Steinbeis Transfer Institute Systems Science, Management and Consulting Services (Berlin/Bremen)
“Stress, exhaustion, burnout. Hidden dangers, opportunities, and new options.” This was the day’s motto for a meeting organized in Kupferzell by the Hospital of the Future Network. The gathering, part of a collaboration with network partners, revolved around interdisciplinary dialog. The network’s members include competence institute unison, a Steinbeis Transfer Institute belonging to Steinbeis University Berlin (SHB).
“You have to think outside the box. The different disciplines that can be part of preventative health care and healing have to come together. If you turn to the Hospital of the Future Network, you can assume that everyone playing an active role in the network as an expert also knows about the methods used by their counterparts,” explains Werner Tafel, the initiator and organizer of the Hospital of the Future Network.
Dr. Albert Lederle, a pharmacologist and an alternative practitioner from Herrsching, showed the guests in Kupferzell how immediate interactions are between mind and body. When the soul suffers, the body suffers too, and vice versa. The environmental analyst Dr. Dietrich Moldan showed the audience simple experiments that demonstrated how people can protect themselves from electric smog at home and in the offi ce. The Freiburg-based physiotherapy and psychiatry specialist Dr. Stefan Dressler examined burnout from the angle of transpersonal psychology. In the same way that fairy tale heroes have to walk a path and pass tests, it is important that people “fi nd their path to recovery.” Cutting corners or straying off the path in fairy tales and recovery takes you in the wrong direction. The strategic consultant and airplane pilot Willi Bayer gave a talk on “crash landing burnout” and how pilots now learn how to cope with pressure. Even in the most dire situations under tremendous time pressure, it is important to have your wits about you and contemplate. There is a simple model that, if taught professionally, can help people master situations of acute stress. Susann Richter, deputy head of nursing management at the Clinic of Psychosomatic Disorders, which belongs to Ostalb Hospital in Aalen, outlined scientifi c insights into the inhalation of scents. An experienced aroma therapist, Richter showed the proven effects of aromas and gave the audience a chance to inhale different samples and experience these effects for themselves. Sabine Hoffmann, the co-initiator and organizer of the Hospital of the Future network presented a technique she has developed with Werner Tafel called bottleneck- centric stress coaching. This is based on causes, split on fi ve levels, which also correspond to solutions for stressful problems: The body reacts stressfully to defi cits in essential substances. Werner Tafel gave a talk on insights into managers and how they can use a model incorporating several methods called Integrative Mediation (iM) to motivate people to work together. His talk also raised a thought-provoking question: Do managers want to assume the role of a sweating cart horse or be carried by their colleagues. If everyone wants to feel “carried” to the same degree, the iM method helps in four steps.
The Hospital of the Future initiative is an informal network that promotes interdisciplinary exchange between different experts, supports a culture of integrated communication, and paves the way for holistic projects that place emphasis on modern and traditional techniques.
Gudrun Jürß, Marion Barthel
Steinbeis Transfer Institute competence institute unisono (Ulm)
Working in cooperation with the TAKT & STIL Seminar Institute and Dragon Business, the competence institute unisono (a Steinbeis Transfer Institute at Steinbeis University Berlin) has developed new certifi cation courses.
Certifi ed Etiquette Trainer – Hospitality Industry in China (SHB)
China is one of the world’s biggest economic powers and has overtaken Germany in a number of areas. But when it comes to quality and etiquette, Germany often has the upper hand. Now many schools and hotels in China believe in western etiquette. In response to this trend, the competence institute unisono is working with business partners to take its training directly to the Chinese. To provide workers and managers with instruction on western etiquette, people working in the hotel business receive professional training resulting in a university certifi cate. The course consists of a series of modules covering manners, appearance, service and table manners, communication, modern adult education, and intercultural skills.
Skills Trainer for Business Etiquette (SHB)
This innovative concept is a reaction to the growing demand for training on self-portrayal and the need for a uniform, national standard for trainers in this area. Practicing instructors can also book this course as top-up training to gain further qualifi cations and specialize in a specifi c fi eld. It is also targeted at fi rms wishing to train their in-house image experts.
Skills Trainer for Intercultural Etiquette (SHB)
Intercultural skills have been a core competence of global business for a long time. To work constructively and successfully at an international level, people need to be sensitive to different countries and cultures. Culture-specifi c behavior can quickly result in misunderstandings. People erect barriers and chances to work together get missed. Yet the techniques of making a good impression and dealing with others can be learned. Instructors trained in intercultural etiquette can try out the essential tools during their own training sessions before passing their understanding of international values, cultural idiosyncrasies, and standards within different groups of countries on to others. The instructors also learn different methods and presentation skills.
Peter Schust, Susanne Helbach-Grosser
Steinbeis Transfer Institute competence institute unisono (Ulm)