Dr. Vera Zylka-Menhorn cannot yet reflect on her life’s work; born in 1954 she certainly still has a lot planned. After all, she has been a medical journalist for exactly 20 years. On April 25, she was awarded the Walter Trummert Medal by the Association of German Medical and Professional Press in recognition of her overall achievements. Prof. Dr. Peter Sefrin, the chairman of the association, presented her with the award in Wiesbaden, where medical journalists meet every year for the Internal Medicine Congress.
Zylka-Menhorn, born on May 3, 1954, studied medicine in Cologne (1972 to 1979) and further trained to become a specialist in anesthesiology. What attracted her to anesthesiology was “the atmosphere in the operating room.” In 1986, she changed careers and became a journalist, initially at the “Welt” newspaper (1986 to 1990), then successfully working freelance, finally joining Deutsches Ärzteblatt in 1993. There, Zylka-Menhorn is responsible for the “Medizinreport” (Medical Report), which primarily focuses on current medical reporting and commentary. Zylka-Menhorn is committed to providing truthful information about new products and procedures. She is not afraid to speak her mind. Roche Diagnostics is the founder of the Walter Trummert Medal, named after a former editor-in-chief of the Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift (Munich Medical Weekly).
At the same time, the Bayer Health Care European Journalism Award was presented. It was noted with praise and a touch of irony that two competing companies were jointly participating in such an event. Although the teams sat at separate tables, they had one goal: to honor critical journalism.
She headed various departments at Deutsches Ärzteblatt.
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