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ΣΥΝΈΝΤΈΥΞΗ
Tεύχος 34 | Mάρτιος - Απρίλιος 2025
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?
Professor Olivier Traxer: It's an interesting question. You know, when I was still a medical student, we spent some time in different Departments. And at that time, I was looking for Plastic Surgery. Although I was in love with Plastic Surgery, I was not very comfortable with the people doing plastic surgery. I thought that they were talking too much about money and not really about the patient. At the same time, I also spent some months in Urology. It was then that I realized that Urology was maybe a good compromise between medicine, surgery and endoscopy. Moreover, another thought that I had was that it looks much more serious to go to Urology than to Plastic Surgery. That's why I finally decided to start studying Urology.
Filippos Nikitakis (F.N.): What was the driving force that led you to specialize in Endourology and stone disease? How did you decide to move from France to the USA?
Professor Olivier Traxer: Yeah, so when I did my residency in Paris, I was performing six months in one specific Department. I must say that it was a huge opportunity for me, because I fit with the team, and this particular team at that time made the proposal that maybe I could stay in this team in the future. So, I was very impressed by this amazing opportunity and they said: "Okay, but if you stay with us, you will have to develop stone management". This meant both the surgical and the medical part of urolithiasis. To be honest, I was a bit surprised at that time. Back then, I was not so excited by Endourology and stones. You know, I was, like most of my colleagues, looking about oncology and open surgery at the time, while laparoscopy was not that developed. So, I said: "Okay, let's trust the people, and let's go for this topic of Endo and stones". And of course, they also proposed me to do a fellowship program. And then, since they had excellent contacts with fantastic people in the States, they arranged for me a fellowship program. And then I just fell in love with the Endo and stones.
It's due to the person that I met during my fellowship, Professor Margaret Pearle. I don't know if you know Margaret Pearle. She's in UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, but really, Peggy changed my life. She showed me the way to do stone management in both a surgical and medical approach. And then I realized that Endo was something for me.
F.N.: In 2010 (Chicago-WCE) you received the Arthur Smith Award and in 2020 the Ralph Clayman Mentor Award. Could you describe to us your feelings back then?
Professor Olivier Traxer: I think again, it's a long story. You know, I did my fellowship in 1999 so it means that more or less, 10 years later, after my fellowship, I was working in the way that Peggy showed me, making a lot of publications and scientific work. So yes, I received this Arthur Smith award when I was more or less 40 years old. It was a big honor. At that time, you don't realize that people in the Endourological world, recognize you as somebody
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