Honorary doctorate for almost 15 years of social commitment

"Dr Ritzenhoff has been passing on his dental knowledge and his enthusiasm for the voluntary care of those in need to our students for 14 years now, making an invaluable contribution to the education and support of social projects at our university," says Prof Dr Stefan Zimmer, Head of the Department of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), summing up the work of the now 83-year-old.

During a ceremony on campus, he presented the honorary doctorship to Dr med. dent. Hans Ritzenhoff. In his laudatory speech, Prof Zimmer focused on the work of the honouree in Luther's launderette, a facility for the homeless run by Diakonie Mark-Ruhr in Hagen. Dr Ritzenhoff has been treating the homeless and other people living on the breadline there on a voluntary basis since 2007 with the support of Witten/Herdecke University. He also received the Springer Medicine Charity Award for this in 2018. Dr Ritzenhoff has also been involved in teaching ergonomics for almost ten years. He teaches dentistry students at the UW/H how to optimise their treatment procedures and, above all, their working posture. This helps to prevent back and shoulder problems, the most common occupational illnesses suffered by dentists.

Helping people and inspiring students for social commitment

Luther's launderette is one of the few social facilities with a dental outpatient clinic. Dr Ritzenhoff looks after UW/H dentistry students there two days a week, for whom treatment in Luthers Waschsalon is a compulsory internship. In this way, the students learn that the appointment of a doctor involves not only professional skills, but also human care and charitable commitment. As a result, some students remain connected to the organisation beyond their internship or develop ideas for their own social projects.