Matthias Girke and Georg Soldner have managed the Medical Section since 2016. Seven years were planned upon. Now their successors have been decided upon.
Thomas Breitkreuz, Stefan Langhammer, Mónica Mennet-von Eiff, and Sophia Wittchow from IKAM formed a committee for this purpose in a joint effort with three members of the Goetheanum management, Matthias Girke, Justus Wittich and Peter Selg. Criteria for being appointed, in addition to professional suitability, were internationality and multi-professionalism. Furthermore, the Goetheanum management wished to have females appointed, in order to increase the percentage of women on the board. On the 13th of June, Marion Debus MD (oncologist, Arlesheim/CH), Karin Michael MD (pediatrician, Herdecke/DE), and Adam Blanning MD (general practitioner, Denver/USA) personally introduced themselves to the Goetheanum management, which then unanimously approved the appointment of all three as new directors of the Medical Section starting from the 2023 Annual Conference on the 14th of June.
Marion Debus, born in 1968, is head of the oncology department at the Arlesheim Clinic. She previously worked at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart and the Havelhöhe Community Hospital. Karin Michael, born in 1970 and mother of two children, is a pediatrician and school doctor. She worked at the DRK Children’s Hospital in Siegen and the University Children’s Hospital in Cologne and is head of the Children’s Outpatient Clinic at the Herdecke Community Hospital. In addition to her international teaching activities, she is co-author of ‹Kindersprechstunde› with Michaela Glöckler. She is passionate about working in the fields of pregnancy, birth, early childhood – and curative education issues. Adam Blanning, born in 1972, is a general practitioner in Denver, Colorado, and has a position of responsibility within the American anthroposophic-medical movement. He also studied English literature and taught family medicine at New York Medical College and the University of Colorado. He is involved in the multidisciplinary impulse ‹Teach the Teacher› and serves on the accreditation committee for anthroposophic medical training. Translation: Simone Ioannou
Image From left to right: Adam Blanning, Marion Debus and Karin Michael. Photo: Ariane Totzke
