Pulling Back the Curtain
Uwe Platzbecker, MD
In this edition, Uwe Platzbecker, MD, shares his long and winding path to hematology – from a stint in
the East German army, to a period as a heart surgeon, and finally to the last 20 years as a hematologist
specializing in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) research.
Dr. Platzbecker is professor of Translational Hematology in the Department of Internal Medicine I and
head of the Section of Hematology at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, Germany,
where he also serves as chair of the medical ethics committee at the teaching university. He is co-founder
and chairman of the European MDS Studies Coordination Office and co-chairman of the European
Hematology Association’s Scientific Working Group on MDS.
at school. At the time, if you
wanted to study medicine, law,
or another popular subject, the
arrangement was that you had
to spend three years in military
service. In a sense, the East Ger-
man government said, “Well, if
you want something from us, you
need to give us something back.”
The typical length of duty was
only 18 months, but I offered to
serve in the army for three years
so that I could study medicine
after I finished high school.
In 1989, two years into my
military service, the revolution
in East Germany took place, the
Berlin Wall came down, and Ger-
many was unified. So, my time
in the army was cut short, but I
wasn’t too disappointed.
Dr. Platzbecker with his daughters on a vacation in France.
We have spoken with
hematologists who took
alternative paths to their
eventual careers, but
yours is quite unusual.
Can you tell us how you
came to pursue a career in
medicine?
I was born in East Germany, the
former German Democratic Re-
public, which was a communist
state. Obviously, my life then was
very different than what it is now
for my children. While there were
many opportunities for work, they
were all linked to the communist
system. For example, if one want-
ed to become a lawyer, it meant
studying within the structure of
Communist law and the East Ger-
man constitution, or becoming a
journalist meant writing within
the heavily censored, Communist-
controlled media. These jobs exist-
ed, but the entire system in which
we worked was wholly different
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ASH Clinical News
from how we work now.
Medicine, though, offered in-
dependence from the Communist
system and, thus, was something
many of my classmates were inter-
ested in pursuing. It also offered
the likelihood that you might be
able to travel – at least once in
your life – to West Germany for
a congress or professional meet-
ing. This was extremely appealing
because, as many readers probably
know, travel between the two
Germanys was severely restricted
until the German reunification in
1989.
To study medicine, though,
one had to make certain compro-
mises. This was a job that many,
many people wanted and there
were more applicants than open-
ings in the universities.
The first prerequisite, of
course, was to excel at school
– which I did. But this was not
enough – many people were good
What was the next step
after leaving the army? Did
you go to medical school?
I was finally out of the army, but
there were no openings. So, I had
to find something to do while I
waited for an opportunity.
My first job was as a nursing
assistant (something between an
orderly and a nurse’s assistant),
and I worked for almost a year in
an orthopedic hospital.
Again, I knew I wanted to
study medicine, so I chose to
work in a hospital to get some
real-world experience. I was basi-
cally an untrained guy who went
wherever I was needed: I helped
patients bathe, assisted nurses
in administering injections, and
everything in between.
I did that for nine months
before I was able to start my
medical training. I went to medi-
cal school for six years, and spent
the last year of my internship
in Johannesburg, South Africa.
After completing the internship, I
trained as a cardiac surgeon.
Yes, it was an unexpected
move, but, again, I went where
the opportunities were. When I
completed my internship, there
were no available positions in
hematology/oncology. I wanted
to do something innovative and
exciting – in other words, not a
boring type of medicine. So, I
chose heart surgery.
I did quite well there, and
it gave me the opportunity to
complete my education, which I
was grateful for because I knew I
wanted to try something else in
the future. So, I applied again for
hematology/oncology positions,
and again, with so many doc-
tors vying for limited spots, there
were no jobs available. That time,
though, I resigned from my job in
heart surgery. I had to wait four
more months before I could find a
position in hematology/oncology.
And, after that stint, did
you finally settle into
hematology?
Well, I had a few months of unem-
ployment, so I occupied my time
by training in abdominal ultra-
sound. I worked in a radiology
practice for three months.
Then,