Master Social Ethics in Healthcare

Master’s student Kilian Pooch is researching transgenerational trauma and suicide prevention and spent a research stay at Korea University in Seoul as part of his Master’s thesis.

How can experiences of war, displacement, forced migration and political repression affect subsequent generations? And what significance might such transgenerational trauma have for suicide prevention?

These questions are at the heart of Kilian Pooch’s Master’s thesis in the Social Ethics in Healthcare programme. His research compares Germany and South Korea and focuses on whether transgenerational trauma represents a previously underappreciated “blind spot” in national suicide prevention strategies – and what social-ethical implications might follow from this.

The international dimension of the project began in March 2025 with an initial meeting with Prof. Dr. med. Ute Lewitzka at University Hospital Frankfurt. As the holder of Germany’s first professorship for suicide research and suicide prevention, she agreed to act as second supervisor alongside Prof. Dr. Christof Mandry.

In October 2025, Pooch travelled to Korea University in Seoul for an exploratory meeting with Prof. Myung Ki, a physician and social epidemiologist in the Department of Preventive Medicine. This first meeting led to the opportunity to undertake a research stay in Prof. Ki’s laboratory.

From May to June 2026, Pooch returned to South Korea for several weeks to conduct his research and gain first-hand insights into Korean research and practice in the field of suicide prevention.

During his stay, Pooch was integrated into the research team and gained valuable academic as well as cultural experience. Together with members of the team, he visited a public health office in Seoul, where the organisation LifeLine, a telephone hotline as part of South Korea’s suicide prevention efforts, is based.

Prof. Ki also organised a conference focusing on migration, its effects on mental health, and possible implications for public health and prevention.

One important insight for Pooch was that social epidemiology extends beyond the collection of quantitative data. It also seeks to identify social determinants and make the consequences of social conditions visible.

This creates clear points of connection with the Social Ethics in Healthcare programme: different academic approaches come together around the shared question of how health-related challenges can be understood and addressed within their broader social contexts.

The comparison between Germany and South Korea reveals significant differences, but also considerable potential for mutual learning.

South Korea has made substantial efforts in the field of suicide prevention. Its Suicide Prevention Act, for example, is updated every five years. The country also has extensive data available on suicide and related factors. Nevertheless, suicide rates remain high.

Germany, by contrast, has particular strengths in the field of psychotherapy, which is covered by statutory health insurance and whose development has been shaped, among other things, by the psychiatric reform movement. Germany does not currently have a national suicide prevention law.

For Pooch, precisely these differences create an opportunity: Germany and South Korea could learn from each other and combine their respective strengths.

A central question of the thesis is whether suicidality can be understood solely as an individual phenomenon or whether, under certain circumstances, it may also reflect broader social or collective experiences of suffering.

German history offers possible points of comparison. Between 1949 and 1990, suicide rates differed significantly between East and West Germany. Following reunification, rates in East Germany declined, although certain vulnerabilities remain identifiable.

For South Korea, a related – though historically and politically very different – question arises. Within only one or two generations, the country underwent an extraordinarily rapid process of social and economic modernisation. At the same time, experiences of war, division and political repression continue to shape society.

Pooch therefore explores whether a collective “survival mode” can persist across generations and what role such collective burdens might play in suicide prevention strategies.

He emphasises, however, the exploratory nature of these considerations. The proposed connections are not presented as definitive explanations but as potential correlations that require further investigation.

Kilian Pooch’s Master’s thesis illustrates the wide range of opportunities available within the Social Ethics in Healthcare programme. Social-ethical questions can be explored not only theoretically, but also in connection with empirical research, health sciences and practical experience.

The research stay in Seoul opened up new academic perspectives, created international connections and provided an opportunity to explore how different societies respond to complex health and social challenges.

Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. med. Ute Lewitzka and the Suicide Prevention Working Group for their academic and methodological support, as well as to Prof. Myung Ki and his laboratory at Korea University for their hospitality, academic exchange and insights into Korean culture and research practice. Thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Christof Mandry, who supported the project from the beginning and provided important impulses.

As part of this year's summer festival and graduation ceremony of Faculty 07 at Goethe University Frankfurt, the graduates of the Master's programme Social Ethics in Healthcare were also formally celebrated. The programme is pleased to congratulate four graduates on the successful completion of their studies.

The following graduates were honoured:

• Christina Fischer-Echanove
• Sabrina Liedtke
• Franziska Max
• Michelle Winter

Through their successful completion of the programme, the graduates have not only demonstrated their expertise in the fields of healthcare, ethics and society, but have also engaged intensively with current social and ethical challenges in healthcare.

Special congratulations go to Franziska Max, who received the award for the best Master's thesis across the entire Faculty 07 for her thesis entitled

"Soziale Bewegungen im Bereich Gesundheit – die Frauengesundheitsbewegung und ihre Gerechtigkeitskonzeptionen unter Betrachtung mit Iris Marion Young"

Her thesis explores how social movements in healthcare develop and articulate concepts of justice and thus makes an important contribution to the socio-ethical debate on participation, recognition and justice in healthcare.

We warmly congratulate our graduates on the successful completion of their studies and wish them every success in their future professional and personal endeavours. At the same time, we are delighted that they will remain part of the network of the Master's programme Social Ethics in Healthcare.