Family atmosphere
My father was a doctor, an obstetrician-gynecologist. Unfortunately, not for long, because during the 1956 revolution he was elected to a health committee, so when the revolution was crushed, he was given two options. Either he became a military doctor, which meant being away from his family and three children, or he took on the management of the blood supply in Békéscsaba. He took on the role and developed the blood supply from 80 liters per year to 8,000 liters in 30 years. He always did all his tasks with heart and soul, but unfortunately the 1956 stamp always remained on him, so no matter how successful he was, people were constantly looking for a way to fix him. One of them was that he was good, the results were beautiful, but the atmosphere was too family-like.
I think this is a virtue. The philosophy of our hospital is that it is a “family hospital”. This is felt in the atmosphere, in the way people relate to each other, in the way they treat patients. Recently, I often think about who was the crazy person back then who had a problem with the family atmosphere… My father was very respected, I couldn’t have imagined not being a doctor.
He became the youngest head of department in Hungary
It was strange to experience at the age of 39 that I had the responsibility of an entire department on my shoulders. That I was called into the operating room if a patient who had undergone surgery had serious bleeding, and I knew exactly that there was no longer a “big” doctor, no one to talk to. I was the one who had to solve this, get out of the operation, the patient couldn’t stay on the operating table. It was a strange feeling at first. Then I gradually got used to it.
At that time, it was customary for large clinics to put different people in charge of each department, sometimes those they wanted to get rid of. However, I had scientific papers and publications that could be used to get into the ring. I applied so that our department could stay together, in fact, I became a department head to protect ourselves. And I created a family atmosphere there too. My principle was that since we spend much more time at work than at home, there should be a calm atmosphere and a good mood. There was no loud talk in my place. Maybe it was also because my former boss was a great professional, but at the same time sanguine, had a sudden nature, sometimes during a visit he would just make the house ring. However, I learned from my father that if someone is honest and does not elbow those in front of him, if he is polite to his colleagues and speaks respectfully to the nurse, then this will bear fruit in the long run.
Endoscopic surgery
My boss was an excellent manual specialist and saw a fantasy in endoscopy. He said that he would never learn it, but it was a very good thing and he supported it in an extraordinary way. We could go to all the domestic and foreign further training courses to learn it. So we started endoscopic surgeries two or three years earlier than other departments in the country. I was interested in it because it was new and our patients recovered faster. They hardly felt any pain, the previous recovery time of several weeks was reduced to days. It was uplifting to treat them in a way that not only did they recover, but they hardly suffered in the process. I was full of the feeling of success. I operated a lot, published, and attended professional conferences. I got to know everyone in the profession, and they got to know me and accepted me. That's how I got into the management of the Endoscopic Society and the Hungarian Society of Gynecologists.
The most important
I think it is incredibly important for an obstetrician-gynecologist to be reliable. If I was called, I would go straight away. I bought a 20-year-old Volkswagen Beetle, it was parked in front of my house, in the direction of the hospital. If there was a problem, I would jump in and be in the delivery room or operating room in 2 minutes. It hasn't had an exam in three years, but it went well. I still live closest to the hospital now, and I can get there in 10-12 minutes even in the morning. But I know that if there is rush hour traffic, it takes more time. That's why I now park a scooter in the yard, and if that's the case, I can get there in 5-8 minutes.
The big change
After 30 years of medicine, you can make two decisions. Either stay in your safe, predictable environment for a few more decades or take advantage of the new opportunity. Even if it's more inconvenient in the short term. Uprooting an established lifestyle, leaving a huge practice – it wasn't an easy decision. My son respects the fact that even at around 50, I can still make a change. He was one of my motivations. He studied landscape architecture at Corvinus University, was a successful web designer, and decided not to return home to Békéscsaba. That's how we came here.
At the same time, being the head of a private hospital in Budapest is a rare opportunity. It keeps you fresh and young. And professionally, it's a great environment. The endoscopic operating room, the colleagues, the patients, the atmosphere...
How do you feel in Budapest?
A colleague of mine said that he doesn't like this city. Every morning, as I roll out, I look at the Elizabeth Bridge and Gellért Hill. Then I go down to the quay, there I see the Danube, the Fisherman's Bastion, the castle, then I go past the Opera, there comes the Nyugati, the Westend, the Lehel market. These are all important things to me and it fills me with a good feeling to see these beautiful places every day.
What is it like when you are the patient?
I am not a bad patient, because I am not sick. Even if I cough for two days, I am not willing to think of myself as sick. And I am a sportsman, tennis, golf, anything is possible. So of course, when my knee was torn, I knew right away that it had to be operated on. The next day I went into the operating room at 9 am and they operated on me. I naturally overcome all obstacles like that, I don't make a big deal out of things, I solve them.
If I were to imagine a family idyll about you, what would it look like?
My wife and I sit in front of the tiled stove in the winter evenings. She is the painter Anna Váradi. On the walls are his beautiful fire enamel paintings, I love them very much, they exude a lot of energy. At our feet is also a family member "Kuszi", the 7-year-old Airedale Terrier. When my son is at home, this idyll is completed with him. Kuszi always gets up from the stove at 11 o'clock and goes out to his basket, clearly letting the family know that it is time for everyone to go to bed. Usually, this is how a day ends.
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