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E.O.E Newsletter | www.huanet.gr
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Leuven, we try to test and see if young clinicians who want to become urologists, have academic aspirations. We ask them to do some desk work, to make a systematic review or to do a retrospective study and to try to start writing papers. Most of the time they spend a year doing this research even before starting their urological training. And if they perform well and are able to write a publication, more chances are offered to them. Interestingly, sometimes they ask: “Can I do two or three years before really starting urology training?” In my view, if you have an academic interest, this is what you should do. Not immediately going to the clinic and starting to do circumcisions and orchidolysis or treat prostate cancer etc. On the contrary, better to start doing clinical research in the place where you are trained, not fundamental research in the lab, which is always available. Interestingly, there are hospitals that have many very productive residents. In some hospitals you will even not be allowed to start clinical training before this scientific research period where you have demonstrated your capacity to report clinical research.
T.S.: Could you please describe us your feelings during the first surgery that you watched and the first surgery that you participated as a resident?
H.vP.: Yes, absolutely! It was back when I was a medical student, following a surgeon in the place where I was born, not in Leuven, but elsewhere in Belgium. I was not only impressed by his charisma and his way of life, but also by the way he did the surgery. His moto has always been: “When you close up a patient, they should look as nice as they were when you opened them.” This was absolutely clean, marvelous! You wouldn’t even realize that a surgeon had been there. So, the mindset of being able to do something for patients’ quality of life, was the best gift that this general surgeon gave me. And this impact that a surgeon could have on quality of life was very useful for my later career in Urology, because I became interested in oncology. It showed me the way to cure cancer, to prolong life and to assure good quality of life in cancer patients.
F.N.: You have done postgraduate training in many different cities like London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Mainz and Rotterdam. How important do you believe it is for a young surgeon to travel around the world and to train in different hospitals and health systems? H.vP.: Well for me this has been enormously important, because it has opened so many doors! During my journey around Europe, I had the chance
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