Dr. Tibor Szakonyi

The first generation of doctors and nurses have immense inner strength. Did you also feel that there are no insurmountable obstacles?

Yes, the first generation have a lot of strength, because they have to find their own way to be someone. The university years gave us the necessary reinforcement and self-confidence for this. In the second half of the 60s, we had such independence that I didn’t dare to dream of, they were beautiful years.

Did you consciously choose the profession of obstetrician-gynecologist or was this decision due to chance?

More to chance, because when I was in my third year, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. I really liked psychiatry, how patients were reborn, it was exciting to see into the mysteries of the human soul. I did my internship with the chief physician of the Pécs Honvéd Hospital, Professor Osváth was a great man, from whom I learned an incredible amount about humanity and the profession. We also dealt with an interesting area, suicide prevention. Under the guidance of the professor, we developed, for example, a test that could be used to screen out conscripts with weaker nerves who might have acted rashly with a weapon in their hands.

The attraction to psychiatry was that those who do it well can save lives.

That's right.

Obstetrics is not that far from that, where you can save lives.

In terms of my faith, they are indeed close to each other, but my personal life also played a role in the choice. I got married and two years later my first daughter was born. I came from Pécs to the Újpest hospital as a finalist, and there was a very good, young team in the obstetrics department who supported me. And although I had an excellent recommendation for the Honvéd Hospital here, I decided in favor of good personal relationships and the collective. It was thanks to this community of friends that I eventually became a gynecologist.

Is it still important to be a member of a good community and be able to work within it?

This has always been very important to me, and it still is. And I quickly fell in love with gynecology. Psychiatry was a very good preliminary study for me to be able to address patients well, to be able to establish a relationship with any of them. I have never been so goal-oriented that I am not constantly adapting to the world around me. I believe that this constant adaptation is the key to development, and my professional journey proves this. If I had not had the aptitude, my psychic sensitivity, my knowledge of psychology, and my good manual skills, I would not have chosen this profession. Someone who does not have good manual dexterity cannot operate well. After receiving continuous good feedback in the first few years, I felt that this was an opportunity for me to develop. At that time, we performed a lot of operations and delivered a lot of deliveries, at least two hundred a year. We had to be on call 10-15 times a month, and that was at least the number of telephone calls. In 1973, I was assigned to the Róbert Károly Hospital, where a new maternity ward was built, which was opened in 1977.

Did you ever think that this was already a lot, enough?

No, I really loved working. Although I missed my family, my children, even now at the age of 40, tell funny stories about how they often needed photos to find out who their father was. We went in every Saturday morning fortnight and got home on Monday evening. But no one rebelled, back then there was a fight for every maternity ward in Budapest. How interesting that now there is a fight for doctors. Of course, there were temptations in my time to go somewhere else, but I am a loyal type. The community here was also great, which mattered a lot. You could learn from someone, and then you could teach someone.

What was the most beautiful moment in these more than 40 years?

There were many beautiful moments, as I helped nearly 4,000 children come into the world. It was truly heartwarming when the mothers who gave birth to me brought their daughters and even their grandchildren. Professionally, it meant a lot to me when a new chief physician came and taught me how to operate on the pelvis, this was perhaps the most important step in helping women struggling with cancer. I also remember the appearance of ultrasound in the early 80s as an important professional moment, because it enabled much more accurate diagnostics. Once, for example, a mother who was bleeding heavily was brought into the department, and my colleagues and I had a discussion about whether to perform a medical curettage or not. I firmly stated that the tiny fetus seen on the ultrasound scan was alive, and I did not allow her to be aborted. I was right, the child is now the same age as one of my daughters.

But there were also funny moments. We gave birth to a beautiful, healthy little boy who immediately started screaming, with a huge bump on his head, and when he stopped crying, the bump disappeared. I was very scared. I went out to the father and gently told him about the symptom I had seen, who happily hugged me. My son looks like me! - he said happily, and with effort he showed me his bump. Of course, the appointments were defining moments, the appointment as an associate, an adjunct, a chief physician, and it is an honor for me to be a member of almost all gynecological societies.

It must have been a difficult moment when it was revealed in 2007 that the healthcare reform would eliminate the financing of the obstetrics department. It took a lot of courage to organize a private hospital…

It took courage and sobriety to keep us from collapsing. A few colleagues and I assessed the situation, and since our operating license was not taken away, only the financing, we decided to continue operating in the form of private care. The management of Nyírő Gyula Hospital was a partner in this, so the quick organization protected the professionals working there and the existence of the well-functioning department. This required an incredible amount of planning and attention. Today, we work with a team of 200 professionals and our annual turnover is one and a half billion.

And did you think at the time that you would be able to build such a large private hospital in 9 years?

I didn’t think so. I was sure that it was possible to do good obstetrics and gynecology together with surgery. However, I could only hope for the wide range of specialized care that we can now provide. We perform more than 2,500 surgeries per year and our outpatient turnover is 30,000 people. Thanks to last year's 300 million forint investment, the Róbert Hospital has become a modern 21st century hospital.

What is your remaining wish? What would you like in the coming years?

I would like to see more satisfied and happy patients, this is the most important thing. It would also be nice to see new professions, new techniques, new surgical procedures come into the house, so that everything I have worked for from the beginning is fulfilled. And I would really like to see the spirit that we, the founders, have established, continue to develop. Our creed is that when a patient enters our hospital, they should feel that everything and everyone here is there to help them heal or, in the case of obstetrics, to find joy. Our basic principle: be humble to the patient and be humble to the illness. It is at least as important that the healer should consider his patient as a partner.

This attitude goes against the paternalistic view that is common in the medical community…

That is true, but when I could do it in my own environment, back in the 70s, I tried to dismantle this feudalistic medical system. When I was a young doctor, I saw many times what not to do, and I learned it for life. We can only be successful in healing if we treat the patient as an equal. And obstetrics is the most beautiful thing in the world. It doesn't matter how I manage a pregnancy for 7 or 8 months, how the mother experiences her pregnancy, how she experiences her labor, the arrival of the newborn. All of this will be decisive in both their lives, their relationship, and whether the mother wants another child. The doctor is the patient's partner and the patient is the doctor's partner. After the hospital opened, I constantly taught this to my colleagues. We, the founders, were already pioneers of easy and natural childbirth. Perhaps it is thanks to this philosophy that I have not burned out in 43 years, although I am now trying to retire, which is a difficult task. I really want to spend more time with my four children and my four grandchildren. So far I have only been a weekend grandfather, and I still have work to do there.

What else will you do to keep yourself busy? Do you have any hobbies?

I like to travel, and now I will have time for that too. I will definitely go to Lake Balaton a lot, where I can relax very well. I will also have time to fill the gaps that have accumulated over the years. I will look through my library, read the books I have not read, I will go to the theater a lot, and I will finally be able to spend enough time with my friends.