“Every time I treat a patient, I memorize his face as well as his heart. And when he comes back, after 10, 15, 20 years, I recognize him from the eyes ". To speak, with human as well as scientific sensitivity and participation, is the Dr. Sonia Albanese, Head of Cardiac Surgery for Arrhythmias of theGeneral Pediatric Bambino Gesù From Rome. An excellence, the first woman to have a heart transplant in Italy, even if the gender issue for her is not the main one. “I don't consider it a record - explains - I am a pediatric cardiac surgeon and I have always thought that I have to deal with my peers, men and women alike, however other operators who do my job ".
But it so happened that when she had her first heart transplant, in 2001, her team in the operating room was all female. “A coincidence that highlighted how medical competence in Italy has always been very high without looking at gender differences. In this sense we can speak of female competence. On that occasion I felt the need to underline this team of women, to tell the young girls that this is a path and a profession that even a woman can undertake ".
Sonia Albanese graduated from the University of Bologna, then two specializations, the first in general surgery, the second in cardiac surgery, with some experiences abroad. What prompted you to return to work in Italy?
“I did my training in Montpellier, I moved to Paris. Then I decided to take care of cardiac surgery, I returned to Paris, and then to Bologna where I trained and where I was asked to return. Soon another experience abroad, in San Francisco. Later the possibility of a job in Rome opened up, where I decided to come because in Rome there is the first Italian center for pediatric cardiac surgery. Although a career abroad could have been easier, I believed in our country. I am very attached to Italy and this feeling helped me to decide in this sense ".
Could you tell us about your first pediatric heart transplant? A significantly important appointment ...
“You don't just happen to have an intervention done. The first surgery is the result of a long preparation. You spend a lot of time in the operating room, helping the operator in the first or second place. When a series of skills are all present, gradually due to difficulty, then it is your turn. At the time my primary was the Dr. Roberto Di Donato who today heads the pediatric heart surgery program in Dubai. He was the one who decided that this case could be turned over to me. The patient was a six month old baby and everything was fine. From there there have been many other increasingly complex cases, both of transplantation and of normal pathology ".
Why did you choose the pediatric field and what does it mean to treat children?
“At the beginning of my path to medical school, my favorite since I was a child, I hadn't thought about pediatrics. Then I was attracted to alleviating the suffering of children. Congenital heart disease is a very complex field that presents a variability of pathologies. In fact, we treat babies but also young adults who are in continuity and of whom, therefore, we are always the ones to take care. The particular thing about this specialty is that our trusting relationship with the patient expands dramatically. It is not limited to the child but inevitably involves the parents and the family in a broad sense ".
In this sense, has being a woman represented an added value for you?
“I have very sensitive male colleagues, one cannot generalize. Certainly female empathy is more immediate. It does not need verbal language, there are things that can be felt, but this does not detract from the delicacy of male colleagues. All those who work in the pediatric field must have a certain sensitivity, otherwise they would not be able to deal with the child's speech ”.
Woman doctor and surgeon, how many women are today at the forefront in this field?
“In Europe there is an exponential growth of female participation in the faculty of medicine and surgery. Until ten years ago, the presence of women was not so relevant in surgery. Now, on the other hand, we have many women specialists, with a ratio of 7 to 3. The word of the future is surgeons because in all surgical specializations there are many women also in positions of responsibility ".
I imagine that in his career there have also been some difficult moments ...
“Certainly, sometimes very difficult. We doctors participate in the path of suffering of families, but we must still maintain an emotional and technical balance. It is a difficult balance ... a continuous path that involves an important effort to be operational at best, even from a psychophysical point of view. To be able every day to put technique and professionalism in front of one's feeling towards the patient ".
At what point is pediatric cardiac surgery in Italy today?
“Right now there are optimal results. We have an almost complete coding of all the pathologies of the newborn. Complex cases are now faced in a multidisciplinary way. Furthermore, new technologies have made significant progress and this has led us to have important results at an international level. In particular, new scenarios are opening up for young people also thanks to biomedical technologies and 3D representation systems ".
Speaking of young people, do you have any advice for new doctors?
“What attracts me most and fascinates me about my profession is the clinic, an aspect that technology has lost a bit. This is what I wish to pass on to the new generations of doctors. In our profession it is essential to go and visit the patient, look at him, talk to him, listen to him. It helps to give an identity to the real needs of the person in front of us because when the patient speaks he has a need. The clinic is the first impact, one of the key points of the medical profession because it brings together all the pieces of the puzzle of the person we have to treat. A sensitivity that no technology can ever replace ".
