The 29th anniversary of the first successful heart transplant in Poland is November 5. On this occasion, at the headquarters of the Supreme Medical Chamber, a press conference was held on Tuesday, referring to the film Gods, which was awarded the main prize at the festival in Gdynia.
The drama Godowie, directed by Łukasz Palkowski, has been shown in cinemas since October. Krzysztof Rak, the scriptwriter of the production, who participated in Tuesday’s conference, said that the film is based on 90 percent. on the facts: photos, memories of colleagues and opponents of the charismatic prof. Zbigniew Religa. Details such as items lying on the professor’s desk or his blanket were recreated. But it was primarily about showing the emotions of the doctor: his mission, passion, calling – he explained.
The film presents the first months in which the young team of prof. Religi worked on introducing heart transplants in a Poland cut off from the achievements of Western medicine. It required extreme stubbornness and courage.
National consultant for anaesthesiology and intensive care, prof. Krzysztof Kusza admitted that for him Palkowski’s drama is a documentary.
About how intensely the team of prof. Religi worked and fought for the patient, the recollection of Dr. Roman Przybylski testifies: Once, after three days on duty, I accidentally came home in the morning, filled the tub with warm water, entered it and fell asleep. I was awakened by a pounding on the door. I slept for 12 hours! It was the babysitter who brought her daughter from kindergarten. I opened, dressed only in a bathrobe, with dark circles under my eyes (…). I can assure you that I haven’t been drinking.
However, alcohol and cigarettes were then widely used by stressed and exhausted doctors, including Professor Religa himself. Everyone smoked in hospitals. The professor was only human. But he has never operated under the influence of alcohol, he has never come into contact with patients in this state – assured prof. Marian Zembala, national consultant for cardiosurgery, director of the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze and participant of the first successful heart transplant in the team of prof. Zbigniew Religa.
Is the figure and work of prof. Can religion inspire young doctors today? Humility and work, work, work. This is the message of this film – said prof. Zembala. But what is not good needs to be changed. The student must be better than the master, otherwise there would be no progress.
President of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Head of the Clinical Department of Cardioanesthesia and Intensive Therapy of the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze prof. Piotr Knapik added: A doctor should have the opportunity to look from the patient’s position to become a better doctor.
A doctor should like people. Who does not like people should not practice this profession – said prof. Alicja Gałązka from the University of Silesia – Otherwise, the interaction with the patient will be a source of frustration for him.
In her opinion, if a doctor is burned out, devoid of passion, sooner or later he will not have enough energy to pursue this profession. That is why the doctor must take care of his own development (…) develop emotional intelligence; managing own emotions, recognizing emotions in others, the ability to regenerate and resistance to stress – she argued.
Over the course of almost 30 years, Polish cardiology has made tremendous progress. While less than 1985 heart operations were performed in 300 and the mortality rate was 17%, currently 2 heart operations are performed in Zabrze and the mortality rate is 400%. It is similar in other Polish centers – said prof. Zembala. But much remains to be done; for example, the introduction of a sectoral division of tasks, thanks to which it would be immediately known at night which hospital will admit a patient with an aneurysm. Thanks to stronger, more specialized teams on call, the death rate could drop, for example, from 2,5 to 30 percent. – says the specialist.
Press conference: Doctors – Gods or slaves of God? took place on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Supreme Medical Chamber in Warsaw. It was organized on the eve of the 29th anniversary of the first successful heart transplant in Poland (November 5, 1985), performed by prof. Zbigniew Religa. (PAP)