Goethe, Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy
“In life’s tide currents, in action’s storm,
Up and down, like a wave,
Like the wind I sweep!
Cradle and grave –
A limitless deep –
An endless weaving
To and fro,
A restless heaving
Of life and glow, –
So shape I, on Destiny’s thundering loom,
The Godhead’s living garment, eternal in bloom.”
(translated by Charles Timothy Brooks, 1868)
Obituary
Far too early at the age of 72, Professor Florian Eitel passed away on April 9th,
2015 following a severe illness. We, the members of the Gesellschaft für Medizinische
Ausbildung, mourn the loss of our honorary chairman. Florian Eitel was a highly dedicated
surgeon, scientist and courageous pioneer in the field of medical education, who was
always seeking and finding new possibilities for reforming university medical programs
to improve the quality of teaching. Florian Eitel actively shaped the GMA as its chairman
from 1993 to 2003 and set the course for the positive developments seen in our organization
since. He also received great international recognition, particularly for his commitment
to the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and on the World Federation
of Medical Education (WFME) task force for developing global standards for medical
education. His efforts to make the progress in the German-speaking countries regarding
improvements in medical teaching visible in the international context were not only
significant, but also successful. He was active up until the end on the GMA Committee
for Accreditation and Certification and critically scrutinized learning objectives
and their influence on the quality of medical education in his unfinished memorandum
on the National Catalogue of Competency-based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate
Medical Study (NKLM). Florian Eitel was an independent and occasionally uncomfortable
thinker and debater, who placed great value on the clarity of definitions and concepts,
and as such encouraged many to reflect and critically respond.
To make this discourse heard, Florian Eitel rendered outstanding service to the Zeitschrift
für Medizinische Ausbildung (ZMA). He saw to it that the journal, Medizinische Ausbildung,
was published by the Thieme Verlag Stuttgart as a supplement to Das Gesundheitswesen.
The first issue appeared in May 1998. He dedicated himself with vigor to the goal
of having the journal listed in the international citation indexes and promoting the
scientific debate within teaching and learning in the health sciences. His efforts
bore fruit and the journal has successfully developed into the central journal for
research in medical education in the German-speaking countries.
Florian Eitel completed his medical studies in 1969 at the Saarland University (Homburg)
and earned the title Dr. med. in 1971. Following his military service as medical officer,
he worked in the surgical department of the University Hospital in Homburg/Saar and
became a specialist physician for surgery and senior physician there in 1975. In 1977
he expanded his expertise to include trauma surgery. In 1981 he qualified as professor
and followed his head, Professor Schweiberer, to Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU)
Hospital in Munich. Since an occupational disease increasingly hindered him in his
clinical practice, he established a specialty in theoretical surgery at LMU. In 1987
he was appointed adjunct professor and founded an interdisciplinary working group
on university teaching. He has since served in many ways on diverse committees and
projects at the national and international levels to improve medical education.
Florian Eitel very successfully secured funding for reform projects, thus giving impetus
for the development of models that have been adopted and used by others. Particularly
worthy of note is his committed participation in the Murrhardter Circle at the Robert
Bosch Foundation, which to this day has formulated effective reforms in Das Arztbild
der Zukunft. An important role is played by the Munich Curricular Innovation Project
(M-CIP) with its new, student-centered approaches to teaching.
In 1996 Florian Eitel wrote in Medizinische Ausbildung that hindsight explains current
situations and imparts knowledge and experience that can be meaningful for the future.
This remains true today.
Our deepest gratitude is due to Florian Eitel for his work and successful efforts
to improve education and teaching. He will be missed as a colleague, comrade, and
friend, and we will hold his memory dear in our hearts. To his family we extend our
deeply felt sympathy and to him our unceasing commemoration.