Prof. Klaus-Peter Günther bids farewell to Dresden University Medicine

After more than two decades of outstanding work at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Prof. Dr. med. habil. Klaus-Peter Günther, long-standing Managing Director of the University Center for Orthopaedics, Trauma & Plastic Surgery, is retiring. Last Friday, August 22, the physician was bid farewell at a ceremony attended by colleagues, employees, companions and invited guests from politics, business, and science. Dr. Thomas de Maizière, former Federal Minister, gave the keynote speech at the farewell ceremony. Prof. Klaus-Peter Günther has significantly shaped the development of orthopaedics at the Dresden University Medicine.

"In Prof. Günther, we are not only losing an excellent physician, but also a person who has shaped generations of doctors with his calm, integrative manner," said Prof. Uwe Platzbecker, Medical Director of the Dresden University Hospital, paying tribute to his colleague. "His work has made the Dresden University Hospital known far beyond the borders of Saxony." "With foresight, a steady hand and great care, Prof. Günther has managed complex developments and always kept an eye on the big picture. It is a great honor for me to bid farewell to one of the most distinguished, visionary and excellent physicians in our institution on behalf of the Faculty of Medicine," explains Prof. Esther Troost, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Clinical work
Klaus-Peter Günther has held the Chair of Orthopaedics at the Faculty of Medicine as a C4 professor since 2002. At the same time, he was appointed Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Orthopaedics at the Dresden University Hospital. Under his leadership, the clinic developed into one of the leading university institutions for endoprosthetics, joint-preserving and spinal surgery as well as tumor orthopaedics in Germany. With the merger of orthopaedics and trauma surgery in 2013 and the founding of the University Center for Orthopaedics, Trauma and Plastic Surgery (OUPC) together with Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Schaser and Prof. Dr. Adrian Dragu, Prof. Günther played a key role in designing a model for the convergence of disciplines at German university hospitals. Today, orthopaedic surgeons and trauma and plastic surgeons work together under the umbrella of the OUPC under the leadership of three directors. The three specialist departments are responsible for over 6,500 inpatients treated and almost 7,000 operations performed each year. 240 full and part-time employees work here - alongside doctors, nursing staff on the wards and in the operating theaters as well as physiotherapists.

Prof. Klaus-Peter Günther has always placed great value on this close and multifaceted interdisciplinary cooperation. For example, the Endoprosthetics Center relies on structured cooperation agreements with physiotherapy, orthopaedic technology and anaesthesia. Interdisciplinary exchange also comes into play in the treatment of femoral neck fractures. Experts with knowledge of internal medicine and geriatrics support the OUPC team – this holistic approach offers geriatric co-treatment and special physiotherapy. In addition, the OUPC's plastic and trauma surgery departments work hand in hand to treat complex fractures with soft tissue damage. Many operations are performed jointly by orthopaedics, trauma and plastic surgery.

Teaching and faculty activity
In addition to his clinical work, Prof. Günther was also active in academic teaching. His retirement now marks the end of an era for the Faculty of Medicine. As a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, he was intensively involved in the training of early-career researchers and supported numerous scientific and medical careers. Scientifically excellent and exceptional in teaching, Prof. Günther opened up spaces for joint learning and research: interprofessional, interdisciplinary and unfailingly dedicated. With his scientific work, he set professional standards in the field of orthopaedics and trauma surgery. Clinical programs such as OptiTEP for the treatment of patients with an artificial knee or hip joint stand for his ability to bring medical excellence into practice. His scientific focus has been on large joint arthroplasty, joint-preserving hip surgery and the treatment of complex musculoskeletal diseases. Numerous publications, international lectures and his board activities in expert societies such as the German Society for Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery (DGOOC) and the European Federation of Orthopaedic Surgeons (EFORT) testify to his expertise and commitment. First as Vice-Dean for Strategy and Finance (from 2017) and later as Vice-Dean for Finance (January 2022 to January 2025), he also played a key role in supporting the Faculty's direction and ensuring its financial stability.

"The University Hospital Dresden would like to thank Prof. Günther for his decades of commitment, his medical excellence and his human greatness. We wish him health, happiness and many fulfilling moments in his new phase of life," says Prof. Uwe Platzbecker. On the occasion of his retirement, Dr. Thomas de Maizière, former Federal Minister, gave the keynote speech "You have to want to lead".

© Michael Kretzschmar

Biography of Prof. Klaus-Peter Günther
Klaus-Peter Günther, born in 1959, began his medical studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1978, where he completed his state examination in 1985 after finishing his practical year in Traunstein, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. After gaining his license to practice medicine in 1985, he initially worked as a junior doctor in the surgical department of the Traunstein City Hospital. In 1986, Klaus-Peter Günther received his doctorate from the University of Munich with his dissertation "Cyclosporine and methylprednisolone as immunosuppressive therapy after kidney transplantation". In 1988/89 he was initially a research assistant at the Balgrist Orthopaedic University Clinic in Zurich, and from 1989 he worked at the Orthopaedic Clinic of the University of Ulm, where he also completed his specialist training in 1992. With his scientific work "Histomorphological and histomorphometric studies on the ingrowth behavior of bone grafts and substitutes", he habilitated in Ulm in 1997 and at the same time obtained a teaching qualification in orthopaedics. In 2000, Klaus-Peter Günther was appointed Senior Consultant at the Clinic for Orthopaedics at Ulm Rehabilitation Hospital (Ulm Orthopaedic University Hospital). After a research fellowship at Harvard in 2001, he was appointed C4 Professor of Orthopaedics at the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden in 2002. At the same time, he became Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Orthopaedics at the Dresden University Hospital. Prof. Klaus-Peter Günther is a member of numerous national and international professional associations and represents Dresden's expertise in his field.

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