(Interview from 2022)

Dagmar Möbius

Up until her final years of high school, Katrin Metzler wanted to be a veterinarian. Then, her interests shifted toward human medicine. But before the now 32-year-old could become a doctor, she had to complete her nursing training. Today, she is one of the few forensic scientists in Germany, and one of even fewer women in the field.

According to statistics from the German Medical Association, there are 409,121 doctors registered in Germany (as of the end of 2021). Only 374 are registered in the field of forensic medicine. Of those, 267 are actively working in this area and only 121 are women. One of them is Dr. Katrin Metzler, doctor in residency at the Institute of Forensic Medicine within TU Dresden’s Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine.

Born in Frankfurt (Oder), she grew up in a small village in what is today the Märkisch-Oberland district of Brandenburg. She initially wanted to be a veterinarian. But towards the end of her schooling, she began to change her mind and set her sights on becoming a doctor. “I found the mix of science, hands-on action and never-ending challenges exciting,” she says. To fill the four-year wait before she could begin her studies, she completed training to become a nurse in Berlin. Surgery and intensive care medicine were her favorite subjects, and after her exam, Katrin Metzler worked in a neurosurgery ward with a partial intensive care unit.

Due to the restricted admission policy for studying medicine, she was unable to study wherever she wanted. “So the selection process led me to Dresden,” she explains. The beginning wasn’t easy. “I was out of practice with regard to studying. Physics, for example, was really difficult for me. During that time, I had a leased phone line directly to my parents, and my then father-in-law was a physics teacher, so he could help me.” Katrin Metzler fought on. After four years of waiting for admission, giving up was not an option for her. “I was determinedly ambitious and learned a lot,” she said, also crediting her nursing training. However, she says, “Rote learning wasn’t for me.” She owes a lot to Professors Thomas Noll for Physiology, Dieter Müller (†) for Biochemistry and Christine Erfurt for Forensic Medicine. “They shined the spotlight on things that were relevant for students. They sat down with us and went out of their way to make sure we understood the material.” In retrospect, she appreciated the many, sometimes voluntary courses offered at the Faculty of Medicine even more, even if she couldn’t take part in all of them.

Katrin Metzler completed internships in forensic medicine during her practical year and clinical rotation. “We were well prepared for everyday work in this profession. Purely theoretical teaching doesn’t offer this. But my education and experience provided me with realistic insight into the career of a forensic doctor and my sights remained set on this specialization,” she explains. She completed her medical studies in the fall of 2018. In 2019, she initially began her residency at the Outpatient Clinic for the Protection against Violence in Berlin before transferring back to Dresden. And forensic doctor Christine Erfurt played more than a small role in this decision. “At our institute, we place great value on qualitative and comprehensive education and training, while ensuring that no one is left on their own to figure out the day-to-day elements,” says the young doctor in praise of the program.

In 2020, she submitted her dissertation, titled “The differentiation between central nervous tissue and intracranial tumors using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.” This method, for which she evaluated data from previous research, could potentially replace pathological cryosectioning in brain tumor surgery. The measuring device detects intraoperatively if the tissue in question is normal brain tissue or tumorous tissue.

Dr. Katrin Metzler’s daily routine takes place in the dissecting room. But medical confidentiality prohibits her from talking to us about specific cases, especially the more extraordinary ones. This goes for public prosecutors’ investigations as well. “We also perform examinations on living people, for instance injured parties after acts of violence, and we investigate the locations where corpses have been found.

But it’s not as simple as what you see on television. Having a look from three meters away, estimating the temperature and figuring out the progression of events is pure fiction. Serious investigations take significantly longer,” she explains. Reports need to be dictated. Court appraisals need to be taken into consideration. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic also plays a role, for instance in declaring the cause of death or when an adverse reaction to a vaccine is suspected. “Forensic medicine is a small field, but it involves more than one might think,” Dr. Katrin Metzler says in summary. “You may believe you’ve seen everything, but then a case will come along that’s full of surprises.” The forensic scientist hopes to be able to remain in Dresden after the end of her residency, because the city has become her home in more ways than one.

Addendum from the editor:
After receiving a request from the TUD mentoring program for pupils, Dr. Katrin Metzler immediately agreed to be “brought in for questioning” by a group of eager school pupils. The goal of the project is to raise awareness of the challenges of studying at university as well as the subsequent occupational fields with reference to specific degree programs. In the end, everyone agreed that it was a useful forum.

Contact:
Dr. med. Katrin Metzler, Doctor in Residency
TU Dresden
Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine
Institute of Forensic Medicine
Tel.: +49 (351) 458-2601
Email