Michael Birkholz

Michael Birkholz is a German specialist in forensic medicine , professor and director of the Institute for Legal and Traffic Medicine . In addition, he is the head physician of the medical evidence collection service in Bremen and president of the interdisciplinary specialist forum for legal medicine .

Life

After completing his degree in human medicine at the University of Greifswald , Birkholz completed two years of military service and acquired the additional qualification "diving doctor". From 1976 he worked as a specialist in the Institute for Forensic Medicine in the Schwerin district. In 1982 he was appointed specialist in forensic medicine and senior physician. In 1987 Birkholz moved from the GDR to the FRG in Bremen and took up a medical position in the forensic medicine department of the main health department there. In 1989 he became head of the forensic medicine department at the main health office in Bremen.
From 1994 to 2015 he was director of the new Institute for Forensic Medicine. At that time, the institute was administratively attached to what was then the central hospital in St.-Jürgen-Straße . In 2008, a teaching position for forensic medicine followed.

Engagement in Bremen

Due to Birkholz's commitment, Bremen is one of the few German cities with a complete forensic medical care. The Bremen citizenship decided that if the cause of the death of children under 6 years of age is unclear, a forensic autopsy in Bremen is mandatory.

Bremen was the first federal state to introduce a temporary death certificate. The called doctor can then certify the death, but carry out the actual investigation at a later date. B. can be done in the absence of all relatives.

Birkholz also calls for specially trained coroners to be introduced in the home. In this context, he said, "If the knife is still in your chest, you don't have to be a coroner." Since these cases would not be overlooked, an ophthalmologist would also recognize them. "But not the rest."

job

His work focuses on the development and implementation of a contemporary communal corpse system in connection with the establishment of forensic basic medical care and highly specialized forensic medical care.

Birkholz is also involved in student training and further training for the Bremen police. He and his team advise the Health Senator on questions relating to the corpse.

German expert forum death investigations

The German Expert Forum on Death Investigations was the idea of ​​police officer Martin Keller in the years 2003–2005, who subsequently became the first chairman of the Association of German Expert Forum on Death Investigations. V. was. Michael Birkholz joined as a forensic medical advisor and sponsor over the years and subsequently took over the chairmanship and continuation of the portal after Martin Keller withdrew from the activities of the forum and association for health reasons. The specialist forum is an Internet portal with users from the judiciary, police and doctors. The aim is to promote interdisciplinary cooperation on forensic issues relating to the deceased and to quickly clarify technical issues. Birkholz and his team look after the forum professionally. An international specialist congress is held in Bremen once a year on this topic.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.klinikum-bremen-mitte.de/internet/kbm/de/lebenslaeufe/Birkholz.pdf
2. ↑ http://www.durchblick-gesundheit.de/content/red.otx/1177,71127,0.html?sID=a61b104a6c8c7a2c2f7879aa90d8873c