Christian Schulz-Quach

Dr. Christian Schulz-Quach is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Educator in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a staff psychiatrist at the University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Department of Supportive Care, Division of Psychosocial Oncology. He obtained his medical training from Witten/Herdecke University in Germany with electives at King’s College London, UK and Harvard Medical School, US. He completed his Medical Doctorate in Neuroscience at Witten/Herdecke University in Germany. Dr Schulz-Quach holds a Master of Science in Palliative Care at King’s College London and a Master of Arts in Existential-Phenomenological Psychotherapy from Middlesex University, UK. He is currently completing his Professional Doctorate in Existential-Phenomenological Psychotherapy with a particular focus on death awareness and mortality salience in health care professionals. Dr Schulz-Quach is board certified in Psychosomatic Medicine, Medical Psychotherapy and Palliative Medicine in Germany, a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK and a fully accredited psychodynamic, as well as existential-phenomenological psychotherapist.

Dr Schulz-Quach has a clinical focus on trauma-related psychiatry and specific psychotherapies in advanced stage cancer care. His scholarship in educational research has been centred on curriculum development for palliative care education and development of innovative teaching methodology for sensitive topics like death anxiety and emotional processing in end-of-life care. He has led national discourse projects on meaning-making and mortality in Germany and is co-founder of the ‘30thoughts’ discourse project series. He has received numerous teaching awards, he has several visiting lectureship position internationally and he has published more than 20 books in Germany.
 

Research Synopsis

Dr Schulz-Quach has a clinical focus on trauma-related psychiatry and specific psychotherapies in advanced stage cancer care. His scholarship in educational research has been centred on curriculum development for palliative care education and development of innovative teaching methodology for sensitive topics like death anxiety and emotional processing in end-of-life care. He has led national discourse projects on meaning-making and mortality in Germany and is co-founder of the ‘30thoughts’ discourse project series. He has received numerous teaching awards, he has several visiting lectureship position internationally and he has published more than 20 books in Germany.

Recent Publications

1. Jansen, J., Schulz-Quach, C., Eisenbeck, N., Carreno, D.F., Schmitz, A., Fountain, R., Franz, M., Schäfer, R., Wong, P.T. and Fetz, K., 2019. German version of the Death Attitudes Profile-Revised (DAP-GR)–translation and validation of a multidimensional measurement of attitudes towards death. BMC psychology, 7(1), pp.1-11.
2. Fetz, K., Vogt, H., Ostermann, T., Schmitz, A. and Schulz-Quach, C., 2018. Evaluation of the palliative symptom burden score (PSBS) in a specialised palliative care unit of a university medical centre-a longitudinal study. BMC palliative care, 17(1), p.92.
3. Schulz-Quach, C., Wenzel-Meyburg, U. and Fetz, K., 2018. Can elearning be used to teach palliative care?–medical students’ acceptance, knowledge, and self-estimation of competence in palliative care after elearning. BMC medical education, 18(1), p.82.
4. Schulz-Quach, C., 2018. The Nakedness Of The Dead Body: The Meaning Of Death To Healthcare Professionals Working With The Dying. Existential Analysis: Journal of The Society for Existential Analysis, 29(2).
5. Weyers, S., Noack, T., Rehkämper, G., Wenzel-Meyburg, U., Schulz, C. and Schmitz, A., 2017. “I just realized that something happened to me today”—An innovative educational approach to support students in dealing with the dissection course, death and dying. Annals of Anatomy-Anatomischer Anzeiger, 210, pp.160-163.

Appointments

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Honours and Awards

Name: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Excellence in Academic Teaching
Description:

Nov 2018 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Excellence in Academic Teaching, Advance HE
Leadership, Governance and Management, London, UK. (Credential, Specialty: Medical
Education)
Fellowship is awarded to professionals who can demonstrate they meet the criteria of
Descriptor 2 (D2) of the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and
supporting learning in higher education.
 

Name: Help the Hospices Prize UK
Description:

Mar 2010 Help the Hospices Prize UK, Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London, UK.
(Distinction for master thesis, Specialty: Palliative Medicine)
Palliative care for the elderly - developing a curriculum for nursing and medical students.

Name: Science Award 2015
Description:

Sep 2015 Science Award 2015, German Association for Palliative Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
(Research Award, Specialty: Palliative Medicine)
Implementation of palliative care as a mandatory cross-disciplinary subject (QB13) at the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf, Germany.

Name: Science Award 2014
Description:

Jun 2014 Science Award 2014, German Association for Palliative Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
(Research Award, Specialty: Palliative Medicine)
German discourse project ‘30 young people talk to dying people and their relatives’ – an initiative by two German universities encouraging young people to develop an explicit attitude towards death.

Name: Science Award 2011
Description:

Sep 2011 Science Award 2011, German Association for Palliative Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
(Research Award, Specialty: Palliative Medicine)
Palliative care for the elderly - developing a curriculum for nursing and medical students.

Name: 1st Art Prize, European Association for Palliative Care Congress 2008
Description:

Aug 2008 1st Art Prize, European Association for Palliative Care Congress 2008, Budapest, Hungary.
Photo exhibition on communication and death awareness.

Name: Tengelmann Award for Excellence in Teaching
Description:

May 2013 Tengelmann Award for Excellence in Teaching, Principal Investigator, Institute of Medical
Ethics and Communication, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
(Medical Education, 2013, Specialty: Palliative Medicine and Medical Communication)
National call for communication projects which focus on improvement of communication in health care professionals. Our contribution was based on our 10 years evidence-based teaching strategy and curriculum development process in Undergraduate Palliative Care Education (UPCE).
 

Name: Oscar Kuhn Prize
Description:

May 2009 Oscar Kuhn Prize, Principal Investigator, Institute of Medical Ethics and Communication, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
(Medical Education, 2009, Specialty: Palliative Medicine and Medical Communication)
National call for best practice communication projects. Our contribution won second prize a project on interprofessional communication in Undergraduate Palliative Care Education (UPCE).