The MHH-Alumni e.V. bid farewell to 114 graduates of human medicine. More than 550 guests gathered for the graduation ceremony in the canteen of Hannover Medical School.
Happy faces: The newly qualified doctors at MHH pose for a group photo with Professor Siegfried Piepenbrock and MHH President Professor Michael Manns. Copyright: Annika Morchner/MHH
Great joy among the winners of the new jury prizes. This year, the Office of the Dean of Studies honored elective subjects that were judged to be particularly innovative, inspiring and unforgettable. Copyright: Andreas Genz, Hannover
The teaching award winners were also delighted to receive their awards from the students. Copyright: Andreas Genz, Hannover
A large stage with a red curtain, dozens of rows of white chairs and crowds of festively dressed people - the MHH canteen was almost unrecognizable this Saturday. A total of 114 newly qualified doctors had gathered with family and friends to bid farewell to their university after successfully passing their exams.
They were greeted and congratulated by Professor Siegfried Piepenbrock, Chairman of the MHH Alumni Association, who took the opportunity to recall his own graduation days in the mid-1968s. Back then, graduation certificates were sent by post in a matter-of-fact way, and a ceremony was rejected anyway due to the political climate at the time. Dean of Studies Professor Ingo Just also warmly congratulated the new colleagues, as he was now allowed to call them. Dr. Marion Charlotte Renneberg, Vice President of the Medical Association of Lower Saxony and herself an alumna of the MHH, was clearly delighted with the festive occasion when she gave her welcoming address. Her appeal for the future career path: “Take care of yourself and your health! And: stay in touch - with your fellow students, with the Medical Association and, of course, with your alma mater."
Studying in Corona times
Graduate Maria Hoppe took to the microphone on behalf of those who were celebrated here. In cheerful and thoughtful words, she described the rollercoaster ride of her studies, talked about studying in Corona times, reviewed the learning marathons and thanked everyone involved at MHH who always had an open ear for the students. Then came the moment when MHH President Prof. Dr. Michael P. Manns was allowed to pursue one of his favorite tasks: He presented the certificates and congratulated each graduate personally, while Professor Piepenbrock presented the MHH Alumni e.V. exam rose.
There was a relaxed and festive atmosphere throughout the canteen, which was also supported by the musical contributions of singer Juliette Jacobsen and pianist Agnes Hapsari Retno. With soul classics by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, they hit the guests right in the heart, as did Jacobsen's own composition "Lift you up". Rumor has it that one or two guests whistled a few bars of the farewell song to themselves on the way to the subsequent snack and champagne reception.
Text: Annika Morchner
Prizes for excellent teaching
The MHH used the festive occasion of the graduation ceremony to once again honor deserving lecturers for their particularly dedicated teaching. After a one-year break, the Office of the Dean of Studies not only awarded the prizes according to a new procedure, but also added a jury prize on a previously announced topic. This year's theme was: "Electives: Innovative, Inspiring, Unforgettable!"
The jury awarded its prizes to two first-place winners and two runners-up: first place went to the electives "Safety in difficult situations", the so-called HAINS week, by Dr. Vanessa Rigterink and Dr. Christoph Noll, as well as the Student Polyclinic Hannover (StuPoliH) with the prizewinners Joana Wrasse and Mareike Sack as medical students, Dr. Maleen Fiddicke, Dr. Cornelia Goesmann, Dr. Antje Porada and Dr. Sabine Klinger. Second place went to the elective from the Institute of General Medicine on "Long-term support of a patient in a GP practice" by Dr. med. Anja Hesse, Sarah Meissner and PD Dr. Kambiz Afshar and the elective "Pedagotchi" from the Children's Hospital by Dr. Urs Mücke, Prof. Dr. Lorenz Grigull and Prof. Dr. Christian Klemann.
Two lecturers per academic year were honored as the best lecturers: In the first academic year, Dr. Stephanie Groos (1st place), Institute of Functional and Applied Anatomy, and her institute colleague Professor Dr. Lars Knudsen (2nd place) received the prizes. In the second year of study, Dr. Tim Scholz (1st place), Institute of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Dr. Beate Vajen (2nd place), Institute of Human Genetics, received the prizes. The third year of study chose Prof. Dr. Ralf-Peter Vonberg (1st place), Institute of Medical Microbiology, and Prof. Dr. Ingo Just (2nd place), Institute of Pharmacology, as the best lecturers. In the fourth year of study, Prof. Dr. Cordula Schippert (1st place) from the Women's Clinic and Dr. med. Urs Mücke (2nd place) from the Children's Clinic earned this award. In the fifth year of study, the two prizes went to Prof. Dr. Olaf Krause (1st place), Institute of General Medicine, and PD Dr. Martin Dusch (2nd place), Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine.
Text: Bettina Dunker