Excellence in Medicine in the Ruhr Region - Dr. med. Karl Schuhmann

TOP Magazin Ruhr, Autumn 2015

A smooth face, a firm abdomen, a beautiful figure – and a man whose expertise makes such wishes come true. That man is Dr. Karl Schuhmann, and his profession is plastic and aesthetic surgery. Hand surgery is also his specialist field. He has brought the necessary experience to this work for 20 years, and for the past ten years he has been making his patients happy at the Augusta-Stiftung clinics in Hattingen and Bochum.

It is the combination of a relatively large specialist department with the added benefit of extensive surgical practice and the individual approach and care for his clientele within a close-knit team that makes Dr. Schuhmann's department in Hattingen so special. A total of six dedicated specialist physicians and an experienced nursing team ensure the very best care for patients all round. For in the field of aesthetic and plastic surgery, size is relative, as Dr. Schuhmann knows: with his 20 beds in Hattingen, he treats 650 people per year as inpatients, plus more than 1,000 on an outpatient basis. That is a great deal for his specialty, yet still allows for an individual focus on each patient. And patients always come to him with a very personal story to tell – placing their wellbeing in the hands of a doctor they trust with their desire for (new) beauty: from burns victims to the visible after-effects of pregnancy, or concerns about skin laxity following a determined and successful diet, to the straightforward wish for fewer wrinkles – the hopes that patients place in Dr. Schuhmann are wide-ranging. He forms his own impression of each individual through listening and advising, before developing a tailored treatment concept. Honesty is part of this too: liposuction alone will not achieve the desired figure. But if every patient actively participates, Dr. Schuhmann can offer a reliable prospect of improvement – and that, the specialist has found, is genuinely encouraging.

After all, the investment should be worthwhile: health insurance does not always cover the path to the perfect body – personal commitment is also required. The consultant himself demonstrates commitment – beyond his work at the Augusta hospitals in Hattingen and Bochum: he volunteers his services for the aid organisation "Interplast" and spends two weeks each year in India helping those in need. From cleft palates to burns, the plastic surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons and their team have treated many people there this year. Dr. Schuhmann also puts in a sporting effort for a good cause, for example at the charity rowing regatta "Rudern gegen Krebs" (Rowing Against Cancer). There, the chief and his team "Die Plastiker" took to the oars and came away with victory. In addition, the family man remains devoted to a great sporting passion from his youth: his heart beats for FC Schalke 04. During a professional stint at the hospital in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, he served as an emergency physician at the Schalke stadium and was on duty there during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Plastic surgery was not called for after even the most committed battles on the pitch – that, Dr. Schuhmann reserves entirely for his regular patients.