• 01/88-4/93 Residency at the Klinik für Thorax-, Herz- u. Gefäßchirurgie Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover (Prof. Dr. H.G. Borst) • 22.02.93 Board certification for emergency medicine • 5/93-4/94 Research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Surgical Research, Harvard Medical School, Boston (Prof. Dr. N. L. Tilney) • 01.05.94 Residency at the Klinik für Thorax-, Herz u. Gefäßchirurgie, Münster (Leiter: Prof. Dr. H.H. Scheld) • 21.12.94 Board certification as general surgeon • 25.04.96 PD thesis (Habilitation), appointment as assistant professor • 22.09.01 Board certification as cardiac surgeon • 05.12.01 Appointment as associate professor • 06.03.03 Appointment as head of the VAD and transplant program • 17.12.05 Board certification for intensive care medicine in cardiac surgery • 01.04.07 Appointment as Director of Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg