In 1991 he was awarded the prize conferred by the 'Universitätsbund Marburg' for the best dissertation on the subject of the history of the university, and the Harold Ellis Prize in 2007 awarded by the International Journal of Surgery. Since 2019 he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
His research interests include the history of modern medicine and science, medicine and technology, history of medical innovation, and body history, with a special focus on the history of modern surgery. Most of his recent publications contribute to his research project “Cutting into the Living Body: The Emergence of Modern Surgery, 1800-1914”. This research looks at two issues: the history of the rationale of modern surgery—why surgeons open up their patient's living bodies to restore their health; and the practices of modern surgery—how surgeons have learned to repair structures within the living body, and making sure that the patient survives. Schlich and his team have examined the recent emergence of minimally invasive surgery in a project with the title "Disrupting Surgical Practice: The Rise of Minimally Invasive Surgery, 1980-2000", funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His most current CIHR-funded project is about patients’ role in the development of new technologies in modern medicine, using Minimally Invasive Surgery as an example, "Medical Innovation and the Patient Consumer: Explaining the Rise of Minimally Invasive Surgery".
Selected publications
Marburger jüdische Chirurgie- und Medizinstudenten von 1800-1832. Herkunft - Berufsweg - Stellung in der Gesellschaft, Marburg: Elwert 1990; a collective biography of the first generation of Jewish medical students at the University of Marburg, Germany.
Transplantation: Geschichte, Medizin, Ethik der Organverpflanzung, Munich: C.H. Beck 1998,. Concerning transplantation, its science, practice, and ethics.
Surgery, Science and Industry: A Revolution in Fracture Care, 1950s-1990s, Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave 2002,. A case history of surgical innovation; explains how the technology of fixing broken bones with metal implants such as plates and screws spread globally in the 1950s to 1990s, despite its technical complexity, scientific uncertainty and riskiness.
The Origins of Organ Transplantation: The History of Surgical Organ Replacement, 1880s-1930s, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2010,. The first comprehensive account of the origins of modern transplants; analyzes how doctors and scientists between 1880 and 1930 developed the rationale and the technology for performing surgical organ replacement.
Editor with Christopher Crenner: Technological Change in Modern Surgery: Historical Perspectives on Innovation, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2017,. The edited volume looks at various ways of explaining innovation in surgery by going beyond the conceptual framework of innovation history and considering the wider technological, social, cultural, and economic conditions.
Palgrave Handbook of the History of Surgery ,. Covers the technical, social and cultural history of surgery. The individual entries in the handbook offer starting points for up-to-date information about an area in the history of surgery for research and general orientation. Written by 26 experts from 6 countries, the chapters discuss the essential topics of the field, specific domains areas, but also innovative themes and make connections to other areas of historical research.
