Bettina Hansen, MD, Senior Vice President Publishing & Information Services Care

The job at the publishing house was more of a coincidence in the beginning. Today, Dr. Bettina Hansen describes it as the perfect match, because it combines many of her interests and preferences: Medicine, psychology, language and creativity. After a few semesters of humanities and a medical degree, as well as working as a physician, she joined Thieme as an editor in 1994. Since then, she has developed numerous products and solutions for different user groups as program planner, program manager, publishing division manager, and now publishing director. In doing so, she always has one goal in mind: The well-being of patients. We asked Dr. Hansen why she works as a physician at Thieme.

Dr. Hansen, what medical training did you complete?

Bettina Hansen, MD: Immediately after graduating from high school, I trained as a nursing assistant and then worked as a nursing assistant. When I then began my studies, I continued to work in nursing. After my license to practice medicine and my third state examination, I worked as an intern in internal medicine and then as an assistant physician in cardiology for another three quarters of a year before joining Thieme in 1994. I personally count the time spent in nursing as part of my medical training. I learned at least as much there as I did in medical school - completely different things, but no less important.

What was your career goal back then? Was it clear to you from the start that you wanted to become a physician?

Hansen: Yes, it was clear to me very quickly. There were two reasons why I started studying: On the one hand, an incredible interest in how people function, both physically and psychologically. On the other hand, there was the desire to use this knowledge, to put it into practice and to be a physician.

And this desire changed at some point? What made you leave the clinic and move to a publishing house?

Hansen: I don't see my move to a publishing house as a change in my career goal. What has changed is that I no longer work in a curative capacity, but I still see myself as a physician and now also as a publishing manager.

It was more by chance that I came to Thieme. At the time, I was in internal medicine and my boss was very problematic for me - so it was clear that I was switching. In addition, I found the work in the hospital very rewarding in terms of working with the patients, but the distinct hierarchical structures that I experienced in most of the hospitals where I worked bothered me. In addition, for me personally, the creative part of working as a physician tends to come up short: depending on the area of activity, in my experience there are up to 90 percent standardized procedures. Time is also often a scarce commodity in hospitals. That's why I often had the feeling that I wasn't doing justice to the patients with their peculiarities, worries and needs. This sometimes created an unsatisfactory feeling in me.

A friend of mine was working at Thieme at the time. She was very taken with the company and thought I would fit in well here because I had studied German, psychology and communication science for a few semesters before studying medicine. I then applied for positions both at the hospital and at Thieme. When I got the job, I thought: "Thieme only exists once. You can just give it a try. It seems like a good mix after all."

How did you experience your start at Thieme?

Hansen: For the first six months, I thought almost every day that I was going back. That immediate reward and sense of purpose - "Oh, doctor, if I didn't have you" - that you get from patients in the hospital, you don't get in the publishing business, of course. The success of the work comes later, because it simply takes time for the products you develop to see the light of day.

But I soon realized that the patience was worth it, because here I can design what I do myself and be very creative. Also, the leverage into medicine is, in my opinion, rather greater than being one of the "cogs" in the hospital. I have been in charge of textbooks for medical students here at Thieme from the very beginning. For example, we revised the "Checklists" series back then. It used to say succinctly "Administer antibiotics". Based on our own experience and as a result of customer surveys, we realized that it would help to state more precisely what a physician should do, for example: "In our experience, it is best to start treatment with three times 500 tetracycline for patients with these and other conditions.

Or another example: In the past, almost all textbooks were structured according to disease patterns. However, the patients do not come to the outpatient clinic with diagnoses, but with leading symptoms. I had just experienced that for two and a half years. So we integrated a section into many books that describes the differential diagnosis and diagnostic procedure based on the leading symptoms.

What professional stages did you go through at Thieme?

Hansen: When I joined Thieme over 20 years ago, I was initially an editor for the "Checklists" book series. Since then, I have had a wonderful career at the publishing house: I became a program planner, program manager, then manager for the medical students program area, and then publishing area manager for medical students and nursing education. Two years ago, I became deputy publishing director, and from October 2018, I will then be responsible as publishing director at Thieme for the program, which is aimed at all healthcare trainees, nursing staff, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, obstetricians, non-medical practitioners, veterinarians and physicians of complementary medicine.

What do you do at Thieme today? What are your tasks?

Hansen: In the past, as a program planner, my main task was to ensure that medical knowledge was made concrete and prepared in such a way that those who work in practice are supported in the best possible way. In the meantime, my task has changed somewhat, as has my personal motto: It is important to me to help put patients (again) more at the center of all healthcare efforts. Together with my team, I would like to help ensure that the players within this system meet as equals - with the aim of providing patients with the best possible care.

This is one of the reasons why the three-volume textbook "I care" was created: In the past, nurses often positioned themselves against physicians due to the hierarchy gap and (rightly) resisted the role of "physician's assistant". We want to help them make their valuable contribution to the health care system with the self-confidence appropriate to their responsibility - as professional project managers for patients in the hospital, as consultants, as psychologists, as managers of relatives, and so on. Nurses contribute significantly to the satisfaction and recovery of patients. So they have every reason to see themselves as professionals, on an equal footing with all other players in the healthcare system.

What have been your personal highlights so far?

Hansen: The fact that we are now providing medical students with more concrete, more "digestible" and multimedia information through our offerings excites me.

And I think it's great that I've been able to help encourage nurses to come out of training with the awareness: I am a professional.

What do you particularly like about your work at Thieme?

Hansen: It sounds abstract, but it's actually the case: I think it's great that I can contribute to the development of healthcare in a direction that I personally consider important, namely away from "factory thinking" to "It's all about the patients here.

On a personal level, I would say: I can bring all my talents to this job. Medical and psychological knowledge, strategic thinking and linguistic skills are all equally in demand here. The perfect match for me. I appreciate that!

Do you miss the clinic or the patients?

Hansen: Let's put it this way: I wouldn't say that I would never go back to curative medicine. But I would question the general conditions there today. I didn't do that in my late 20s. Today I would say that I could certainly design something there that makes sense and suits me. By the way, I would study medicine again at any time!

The interview was conducted by Bettina Ziegler