From cancer patient to LMU doctor

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When Martin Daiu walks through the corridors of the Munich University Hospital in Schwabing today, he wears a white coat instead of a hospital gown. He discusses treatment plans, accompanies ward rounds – and is getting to know the hospital’s daily routine. As he does so, memories keep flooding back to the clinical year student. Just a few streets away, the now 33-year-old spent years fighting for his life at Schwabing Hospital, part of the wider Munich University Hospital.

Daiu had originally come to Germany from Albania to study medicine at LMU. His desire to become a doctor arose at an early age. He particularly remembers breaking his arm at the age of 13. An orthopedic surgeon was able to prevent the need for an operation at the time. “The experience was painful, but at the same time I found it incredibly fascinating,” he laughs. “I was impressed by the doctors, and at the time I thought the X-rays of my arm were the best photos ever taken of me.”

But shortly after his arrival in Munich, everything changed. At the age of 21, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer of the lymphatic system, which was already at an advanced stage. Instead of lecture theatres and exams, his daily life was suddenly dominated by chemotherapy, relapses and long hospital stays.

Eight years of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stem cell transplants and immunotherapies

The treatment dragged on for eight years, including several courses of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stem cell transplants and various immunotherapies. Today, however, what Daiu remembers most vividly is not the medical jargon, but the uncertainty. “There were times when my life was dominated by positron emission tomography (PET) scan results, blood counts and waiting rooms – rather than lectures, exams and plans for the future.”

His situation was made even more difficult by the fact that, as a foreign student, he was largely left to his own devices. “My family were constantly traveling back and forth between Germany and Albania. We had to find our way around a healthcare system we knew very little about. And there was always the possibility that I might not survive the illness.” Toward the end of his treatment, the doctors put his chances of long-term survival at less than 40 percent.

As a last chance for a cure, Daiu underwent a second stem cell transplant in 2021. He spent five weeks in isolation. In September of the same year, the news he had been so eagerly awaiting finally arrived: His first PET scan showed no abnormalities whatsoever. Since then, there have been no further signs of active cancer.

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Despite everything, he never given up on his dream of studying medicine. “For me, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and graduating from LMU eventually became two sides of the same coin. I couldn’t imagine one without the other.” He attributes his success to the support he received from LMU. Time and again, staff at the Examinations Office, the Student Services Department and individual lecturers made it possible for him to take breaks from his studies and then later resume them. “The standards were never lowered, but nobody stopped believing that I could meet them.” Less than a year after his PET scan came back normal, he passed the first part of the medical examination. He has since passed the second part as well.

This shift in perspective still occupies his thoughts today. He now sees the corridors he used to walk through as an anxious patient from a different perspective. Much has changed. Even the oncology department where he was treated at Schwabing Hospital no longer exists. That gives him pause for thought. At the same time, as a trainee doctor, he is experiencing at first hand the pressure so many hospitals are under today.

During his treatment, he experienced exceptional professionalism and compassion, Daiu recalls. When his doctors learned that he was studying medicine, they would often joke that they would take particularly good care of a future colleague. “Back then, it was just a bit of friendly banter. Today, that phrase means so much more to me.” Looking back, he says his first thoughts are not of academic achievements, but of the people who supported him. “I think of their generosity, their encouragement and the quiet trust they placed in a frightened young student.”

A trainee doctor who knows what it’s like to be a patient

Despite everything, he never given up on his dream of studying medicine. “For me, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and graduating from LMU eventually became two sides of the same coin. I couldn’t imagine one without the other.” He attributes his success to the support he received from LMU. Time and again, staff at the Examinations Office, the Student Services Department and individual lecturers made it possible for him to take breaks from his studies and then later resume them. “The standards were never lowered, but nobody stopped believing that I could meet them.” Less than a year after his PET scan came back normal, he passed the first part of the medical examination. He has since passed the second part as well.

This shift in perspective still occupies his thoughts today. He now sees the corridors he used to walk through as an anxious patient from a different perspective. Much has changed. Even the oncology department where he was treated at Schwabing Hospital no longer exists. That gives him pause for thought. At the same time, as a trainee doctor, he is experiencing at first hand the pressure so many hospitals are under today.

During his treatment, he experienced exceptional professionalism and compassion, Daiu recalls. When his doctors learned that he was studying medicine, they would often joke that they would take particularly good care of a future colleague. “Back then, it was just a bit of friendly banter. Today, that phrase means so much more to me.” Looking back, he says his first thoughts are not of academic achievements, but of the people who supported him. “I think of their generosity, their encouragement and the quiet trust they placed in a frightened young student.”