Dr. Javier Gallego: we are the changer for the better way for patients
The 3rd International Uniportal VATS course jointly organized by the University Hospital Charité in Berlin, Germany, the University Hospital in Coruña, Spain and the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tonji University Shanghai, China, was held successfully in Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin, Germany from March 16th to 18th, 2016. During the course, Dr. Javier Gallego, a well-known cardiothoracic surgeon from Hospital Santa Maria, Portugal, gave an excellent presentation on “Uniportal VATS for cardiac procedures”, earning a lot attention from the audience. This time, the Editorial Office of Journal of Visualized Surgery (JOVS) had the great honor to have an interview with Dr. Gallego (Figure 1).
In the interview, Dr. Gallego briefly introduced to us the advantages of Uniportal VATS in cardiac procedures and as well his experience of this application in his hospital, which we believe will be an inspirational and educational sharing for other cardiothoracic surgeons.
When mentioning about “what do you love to be a cardiac surgeon”, Dr. Gallego happily shared with us his early experience as a cardiothoracic surgeon and finally told us his motivation to keep moving—as a surgeon, we are the changer and we’re in the point of changing for the benefit of patients (Figure 2)!
Expert introduction
Dr. Javier Gallego Poveda, MD, PhD, FETCS, currently is in the Department of Cardiothoracic, Santa Maria University Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal.
Dr. Gallego Poveda performed his Medical Education in Spain, Faculty of Lleida, (1995–2001). He was a candidate for the Portuguese national examination to access to the training in Cardiothoracic Surgery (October 2001).
Dr. Gallego finished his training in 2008, after a national examination, first in rank. In the same year he was a candidate for the European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery, becoming a FETCS member. He was invited to be a staff surgeon in the Cardiothoracic Department where he was trained and where he is still doing more than 180 cardiac procedures and 100 thoracic cases per year.
He is a Cardiothoracic surgeon in some private Hospitals in Lisbon, Cascais, Setúbal and Algarve.
The interest for the minimally invasive techniques was showed in many fields, being one of the pioneers in Uniportal VATS lobectomies in Portugal in 2012.
In cardiac surgery he was interested in minimally invasive approach for mitral valve, and made a fellowship for 2 months in 2014 at Sana Herzchirurgie Hospital in Stuttgart with Professor Nicolas Doll and Dr. Markus Czesla; After that, he helped to implant the technique in his department, having done more than 150 cases at the moment, some of them, totally endoscopic technique.
He is responsible for the Total Thoracoscopic Atrial Fibrillation Surgery Program in his department, being, again, a pioneer in Portugal.
In September 15th Dr. Gallego Poveda defended his PhD, an international doctoral thesis based on the minimally invasive approach for the cardiac tumors.
He was invited to continue his activity as an invited Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon.
He has experience on training courses of Uniportal VATS surgery and he was the director in the last year for two trainings in Uniportal VATS courses and one International Meeting for Minimally Invasive Cardiac techniques. He has published many papers in several cardiac and thoracic surgery fields. More information in www.UMICS.com.
Acknowledgements
None.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
References
- Gao S. Interview with Dr. Javier Gallego. Asvide 2016;3:196. Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/952
(Science Editor: Skylar Gao, JOVS, jovs@amepc.org)
Cite this article as: Gao S. Dr. Javier Gallego: we are the changer for the better way for patients. J Vis Surg 2016;2:75.
