Rubén Alejandro Suárez Ricardo is a young first-degree specialist in General Surgery who was one of the four surgeons from Holguín province that participated in the Critical Multiorganic Ultrasound Workshop, held at Havana’s Center for Medical and Surgical Research (CIMEQ).
About this profitable professional experience, Dr. Rubén Alejandro Suárez, also a second-degree specialist in General Comprehensive Medicine, shares some considerations on the event.
As a child, did Rubén Alejandro think he would be a doctor?
“I graduated as a physician in 2012 and I remember that since I was a child I always said I was going to be a surgeon. However, upon graduating as a physician I was able to start a specialty in General Surgery, but I considered other priorities. Although it was clear that I liked surgery, other opportunities presented themselves professionally and I did a diploma in Intensive Care.
“Then I provided internationalist medical collaboration in the Republic of Venezuela, where I stayed for four years as an intensivist and later as a mission director.
“When I returned to Cuba with my duty fulfilled, I began to study the specialty of General Comprehensive Medicine (MGI) at the Alex Urquiola Polyclinic in the city of Holguin. There I had the possibility of finishing with very good results and I was able to opt for the second degree in MGI. Then I had the possibility to do the specialty of General Surgery, which I enrolled in November 2017.
“Once a surgeon I went to the municipality of Gibara to fulfill my social service. This stage more than social service I considered it a school where I could learn a lot and the whole population welcomed me with great affection. But I always wanted to return to the hospital that trained me, the Lucía Iñiguez Landín Surgical Clinic.
“I have been working there for some time with good results, and I maintain the best working relationships with my colleagues and patients. Recently I had the opportunity to comply with the invitation made to us by our colleagues at CIMEQ to participate in this workshop, which is very important for our training as surgeons and for our professional development.
How was the experience of participating in the Critical Multiorgan Ultrasound Workshop?
“It has been a unique and important experience for all of us who participated. Previously in Holguin we had the opportunity to meet some of the professors who taught this workshop. During the workshop we received guidance, information, we faced and learned elements of the specialty that we had only seen in the literature. There were also our professors with many years of experience in the profession in the specialties of Imaging and Surgery, from whom we learn something new every day.
Pofits from Workshop on Critical Multiorganic Ultrasound Scanning
“It was a new experience because although we had learned knowledge related to this topic in previous events, this was the opportunity to be able to retake some of this knowledge and put it into practice. From the province of Holguin we were four surgeons, there we joined other colleagues, intensivists and internists from several hospitals in the Cuban capital and the province of Villa Clara.
“On the occasion we had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Caballero, son of the illustrious Dr. Armando Caballero López, founder of intensive care in Cuba. In addition to the experiences and knowledge transmitted by Dr. Anselmo, a professor of great experience in that institution. We note the preparation of residents, as well as specialists in Imaging, Intensive Care and General Surgery.
“Even participating in this type of event at my young age as a specialist was an experience that we will never forget, neither I nor the other specialists who participated. We went with a desire to learn and to be able to obtain as much information as possible. With our own resources and efforts we were able to get to that institution punctually, even though we were staying far away from the institution”.
Pofits from Workshop on Critical Multiorganic Ultrasound Scanning
How much did the knowledge acquired in that workshop contribute to your professional performance?
“In the first instance, with this workshop we were able to learn about equipment that we had never used before, since we did not have that technology at the “Lucía” hospital. CIMEQ is a very well organized and clean hospital, with very professional specialists, and that undoubtedly contributed to enhance the professional performance of each of the surgeons who participated.
“Despite the distance between Holguin province and Havana, we were able to see that we are all trained under the same school. It was a very good exercise where we all learned from each other.
“The intention of the participants is to be able to socialize the knowledge acquired in this workshop not only in the Clinical Surgical Hospital but also to be able to take it to the General University Hospital Vladimir Ilich Lenin, the Military Hospital Fermín Valdés Domínguez and even to the hospitals of the municipalities that in one way or another also face trauma as part of their assistance work.
“I consider it important that the surgeons could be in contact with the other specialties to transmit what they have learned in practice, in the presentations and conferences, this knowledge helps us to practice with more time, with equipment already at our disposal in our work centers. So it contributed to our professional growth”.
Where do Rubén Alejandro’s professional challenges lie after having received this training?
“All the participants think that we have new challenges, which the specialty itself demands from us in order to be able to practice our profession as surgeons in the midst of the complex situation faced by the health sector and the country in general. I consider that it was very instructive to participate in this type of event because each one of the participants will transmit to the rest of their colleagues everything they learned in the course.
Pofits from Workshop on Critical Multiorganic Ultrasound Scanning
“Now we are the main responsible for socializing this knowledge we acquired so that it can reach all those interested in learning about this type of studies. It is important that not only surgeons but also anesthesiologists, intensivists and internists learn about the subject because these are specialties that demand a vast knowledge of the ultrasound part in critical patients with multi-organ alterations.
“I also consider it necessary to acknowledge the work and effort made by the participants in the workshop, since everything was managed by us, because we were interested in acquiring knowledge, in meeting new specialists from other institutes and other provinces in order to exchange criteria and experiences.
“For example, there are institutions in the country that have ultrasonography equipment for trauma, although this is not our case; however, with this knowledge we can turn to the ultrasound equipment we have available in the Imaging ward of our institution and ourselves corroborate the preparation we acquired, a more accurate way to be aware of what we are going to face later during surgery.
“Finally, I must thank the main professors of this workshop, doctors Anselmo and Oscar, who did their best to transmit their knowledge. On behalf of the participants, both from Holguin and from other regions of the country, I would like to thank them for the opportunity to broaden our knowledge in the specialty of General Surgery”.
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