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ΣΥΝΕΝΤΕΥΞΗ
Tεύχος 29 | Mάϊος - Ιούνιος 2024
Η ακόλουθη συνέντευξη πραγματοποιήθηκε μέσω Zoom. Απομαγνητοφώνηση & επιμέλεια κειμένου: Θεόδωρος Σπίνος, ειδικευόμενος Ουρολόγος & Φίλιππος Νικητάκης, μέλη συντακτικής ομάδας του Newsletter.
Theodoros Spinos (T.S.): How did you decide to become a urologist?
Prof. Finazzi: It was really by chance. I had the opportunity to meet the son of the person who afterwards became my mentor, Professor Micali. I think that Micali is also a name from Sicily, originating from Greece actually. The son of Professor Micali had some tickets for the football World Championship, in 1990, in Italy. Together with the son of my future Professor we watched the matches that year. So, I had the opportunity to meet Professor Micali and he introduced me to the world of Urology. It was absolutely by chance. At that time, I thought I would be a neurologist or something else, probably not a surgeon.This is how it started. Then of course I started to appreciate Urology. But the first reason was the national team of Italy and the football World Championship, in 1990.
T.S.: What was the driving force that led you to specialize in Functional Urology?
Prof. Finazzi: Again, it was a little bit by chance. When I started, we didn't have a hospital for acute patients in my University, but we had the rehabilitation hospital. So, I started to attend the rehabilitation hospital and I started to see neurogenic patients and patients with neurogenic bladder. I discovered that it was interesting for me. Then I have learned that Functional Urology is much more than just neurogenic bladder. It also has to do with Female Urology and prostatic obstruction and infection problems, along with many other things. Very soon I had appreciated Functional Urology. The concept of Functional Urology is that you have to think a lot about your patients. Of course, I don't want to underestimate the other subspecialties, but I think that Functional Urology is the subspecialty where you have to think more about pathophysiology. I think this is the most interesting aspect of this field.
Filippos Nikitakis (F.N.): What guidance would you give to young urologists who are keen on specializing in Functional Urology?
Prof. Finazzi: The first thing I would say to them is that it's a very interesting field. It's also very broad. Because, if you consider the patients that visit a urologist, the majority of them have LUTS and infections of the urinary tract. It is a very broad field when it comes
to Νeurourology, to Female Urology, to prostatic obstruction, etc. Don't underestimate this subspecialty, this is my first advice! The second point is that, you need someone to guide you in this process. It's difficult to do that alone and to learn by yourself. You need someone to teach you. This applies to every different field, but especially for a field like Functional Urology, where, as I already mentioned, the clinical interpretation is very important. Investigating the underlying pathophysiology is very important. So, it's crucial to have a mentor. And my final advice would be that you have to invest time to grow up and progress in this field. But at the end, you will have satisfactions because, as I said, it's a very broad field of Urology.
F.N.: What unique challenges does Functional Urology present that are distinct from those encountered in other fields of Urology?
Prof. Finazzi: I think the major challenge is that, in many cases the pathophysiology is not immediately clear and it is not immediately the evidence. Sometimes, for instance, you have to use also invasive tests, like urodynamic investigation, to really evaluate your patients. You can't just use imaging and have an answer to your question. The imaging is not enough. You need to have at least functional imaging so as to answer your questions. But again, when you understand the underlying pathophysiology, you will be able to treat correctly your patients at the end. Fortunately, there are basically functional problems, not tumors. It's not oncology. I mean your patients won't die from incontinence, for instance. So, this is good. But on the other hand, sometimes our hospitals are full of patients with bladder cancer and prostate cancer. The space for Functional Urology patients in the clinics and also
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