Rüdiger Döhler FRCSEd (24 August 1948 – 28 September 2022) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

orthopedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

Life

Döhler grew up in

Rochlitz Rochlitz (; , ) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members being the mu ...

and East Berlin. In 1958, his family fled from the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

to Bremerhaven (then Port of Embarkation for the US troops in Germany). After graduating from a classic-languages school he joined the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

and from 1968 through 1974 studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

with a break in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. In 2014 he moved again to

Plau am See Plau am See () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated east of Parchim, and west of Waren. Etymology Around 1235 the town was called Plawe, that being the Pola ...

, where he died on 28 September 2022.

Clinical career

In 1976, Döhler was awarded his doctoral degree at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

. He was trained in

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

(L.-D. Leder, Essen),

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

(G. Heinemann, Minden) and

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

(W. Blauth, Kiel) and achieved the acknowledgement as orthopedic surgeon in 1983. In March 1984, he went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and did clinical work at the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital and, with a grant of the ''Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft'' (German Research Council), performed basic research at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

( Sean P. F. Hughes). In August 1985 he returned to Kiel, and three years later he moved to the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

for spinal surgery (H. H. Matthiass). In 1990, he quit cold orthopedics and re-embarked on (trauma) surgery in Hamburg-Altona. There, he achieved his second acknowledgement as general surgeon (1992) and finished his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

with the neuroanatomist Werner Lierse. After German unification in 1995, he was appointed head of the then new hospital in Plau am See,

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

(former GDR). Döhler operated on children from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

for the ''Friedensdorf International'' and, on behalf of the ''Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future'', on former Nazi slave laborers from Poland and Ukraine.

Military

For becoming a reserve officer Döhler joined the

in October 1967. While studying medicine he had his military training in the Territorials.

Publications (selected)

* with S.P.F. Hughes: ''Fibrous dysplasia of bone and the Weil-Albright syndrome''. International Orthopaedics, 10, p. 53-62, 1986 * ''Verletzungsfolgen an Bewegungsapparat und Wirbelsäule'' (Sequelae of trauma). In: A. Reichelt (Ed.), Orthopädie. Stuttgart 1993 * ''Lexikon orthopädische Chirurgie'' (Lexical textbook of orthopaedic surgery). Berlin (Springer) 2003 * ''Brauchen wir neue Hüftendoprothesen?'' (Do we need new hips?). Chirurgische Allgemeine 7 (2006), S. 471-475 * M. Liehn, I. Middelanis-Neumann, L. Steinmüller, J. R. Döhler (Ed.): ''OP-Handbuch. Grundlagen, Instrumentarium, OP-Ablauf'' (Handbook for OR staff), 4. ed.. Berlin, Heidelberg (Springer) 2007 * ''Corps Masovia'', München (Aventinus) 2005 * ''Der Deutsche Idealismus und das Corpsstudententum'', in: S. Sigler (Ed.) Freundschaft und Toleranz. 200 Jahre Corps Bavaria zu Landshut und München, München (Akademischer Verlag) 2006, S. 183-188 * ''Der Seniorenconvent zu Königsberg. Ostpreußen und seine Corps vor dem Untergang'' (Königsberg and East Prussia between the World Wars). Einst und Jetzt: Teil I - Bd. 52 (2007), S. 147-176 , Teil II - Bd. 54 (2009), S. 219-288 * Siegfried Schindelmeiser: ''Die Albertina und ihre Studenten 1544 bis WS 1850/51'' und ''Die Geschichte des Corps Baltia II zu Königsberg i. Pr. (1970-1985).'' (The Albertus University and the Corps Baltia). Erstmals vollständige, bebilderte und kommentierte Neuausgabe in zwei Bänden mit einem Anhang, zwei Registern und einem Vorwort von Franz-Friedrich Prinz von Preußen, herausgegeben von R. Döhler und G. v. Klitzing, München 2010 * ''Säulen Preußens - 59 Corpsstudenten als Oberpräsidenten preußischer Provinzen''. Einst und Jetzt 55 (2010), S. 143-148

References

* *

External links

U.S. National Library of MedicineStudent history
* Corps Masovia {{DEFAULTSORT:Dohler, Rudiger 1948 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German physicians 21st-century German physicians Physicians from Saxony German orthopedic surgeons University of Kiel alumni German military doctors Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Physicians of the Charité 20th-century German surgeons People from Rochlitz