As of Law 25,598 of 2002, July 12 of each year is declared as “National Day of Social Medicine”, to commemorate the date of the birth of Dr. René G. Favaloro and in tribute to all the doctors who They play in that area, AIM recorded.
René Gerónimo Favaloro was born on July 12, 1923, in La Plata, Argentina. He attended primary school in a modest school in his neighborhood, where, with few resources, learning was fostered through participation, duty, and discipline. Thanks to his parents – his mother was a skilled dressmaker – he learned to value work and effort.
Her maternal grandmother conveyed her love for the land and the emotion when she saw the seeds begin to bear fruit. He would dedicate his doctoral thesis to her: “To my grandmother Cesárea, who taught me to see beauty even on a poor dry branch.”
At the end of high school he entered the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the National University of La Plata. In the third year he began to attend the Polyclinic hospital and with them his vocation was increased by making contact with patients for the first time.
After graduating in 1949, he practiced as a rural doctor in the province of La Pampa, for twelve years. That stage of his profession forged in him a social conscience that would mark him in all the endeavors of his life. During the years that Rene, together with his brother (also a doctor) remained in La Pampa, they created a healthcare center and raised the social and educational level of the region.
With the help of teachers, church representatives, business employees, and midwives, they gradually achieved a change in attitude in the community. Thus, they managed to almost eliminate child mortality in the area, reduced infections in childbirth and malnutrition, organized a living blood bank with donors who were available whenever they were needed, and held community talks in which they provided guidelines for the health care.
Favaloro read with interest the latest medical publications and every so often he returned to La Plata to update his knowledge. He was shocked with the first cardiovascular interventions: it was the wonder of a new era. Little by little, the enthusiasm for thoracic surgery was reborn in him, at the same time that he was giving shape to the idea of ending his rural medical practice and traveling to the United States to do a specialization. He wanted to participate in the revolution and not be a mere observer. On one of his trips to La Plata, he expressed that desire to Professor Mainetti, who advised him that the indicated place be the Cleveland Clinic.
At 40 he went to work as a Surgery Resident at the Cleveland Clinic, where he became a Plant Surgeon. During this period, he developed the Aorto-Coronary By-Pass technique, for which the contribution of his co-worker Mason Sones, who developed cinecoronary angiography, an essential study prior to surgery, was essential.
Initially, most of his work was related to valvular and congenital disease. But his search for knowledge led him in other ways. Every day, as soon as he finished his work in the operating room, Favaloro spent hours and hours reviewing coronary angiography and studying the anatomy of the coronary arteries and their relationship to the heart muscle.
In early 1967, Favaloro began to consider the possibility of using the saphenous vein in coronary surgery. He put his ideas into practice for the first time in May of that year. The standardization of this technique, called “bypass” or myocardial revascularization surgery, was the fundamental work of his career, which made his prestige transcend the limits of that country, since the procedure radically changed the history of coronary heart disease. . It is detailed in depth in his book Surgical Treatment on Coronary Arteriosclerosis, published in 1970 and published in Spanish under the name Surgical Treatment of Coronary Arteriosclerosis. Today, between 600,000 and 700,000 such surgeries are performed annually in the United States alone.
His contribution was the result of deep knowledge of his specialty, long hours of research and intense work. Favaloro said that his contribution was not personal but the result of a team that had the patient’s welfare as its first objective.
Dr. Favaloro was the first to successfully perform coronary artery bypass surgery on the heart. He replaced the coronary artery blockage of a 51-year-old woman in May 1967 with a piece of saphenous vein at the Cleveland Clinic. This was “the beginning” of bypass surgery, which has been gradually improved with new technology. Favaloro has undoubtedly changed the history of coronary heart disease.
Favaloro returned to his country in 1971, with the dream of developing a center of excellence similar to that of the Cleveland Clinic, which combined medical care, research, and education. With that objective, the Favaloro Foundation was created in 1975. Since then, more than 400 residents have been trained under its supervision. The innumerable courses, seminars and congresses organized by the Foundation, among which “Cardiology for the Consultant” – which takes place every two years – stand out, contributed to raising the level of the specialty for the benefit of patients.
In 1980 Favaloro created the Basic Research Laboratory -which he financed with his own money for a long period- and later it became the Basic Sciences Research Institute of the University Institute of Biomedical Sciences and which, in turn, gave rise to in August 1998, to the creation of the Favaloro University. Currently, the university consists of a Faculty of Medical Sciences, where two undergraduate degrees are studied – medicine (started in 1993) and kinesiology and physiatry (started in 2000) – and a Faculty of Engineering, Exact and Natural Sciences, where They study three engineering degrees (started in 1999).
In 1992, the Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery of the Favaloro Foundation, a non-profit entity, was opened in Buenos Aires. With the motto “advanced technology at the service of medical humanism” highly specialized services are provided in cardiology, cardiovascular surgery and heart, lung, cardiopulmonary, liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation, in addition to other areas. Favaloro concentrated his task there, surrounded by a select group of professionals.
He continued to emphasize disease prevention and teach his patients basic hygiene rules that would help decrease disease and the death rate. With this objective, studies for the detection of diseases, a variety of prevention programs, such as the smoking cessation course, were carried out at the Favaloro Foundation, and several publications were made for the general public through the Favaloro Foundation Publishing Center, that worked until 2000.
He never lost the opportunity to denounce problems such as unemployment, inequality, poverty, arms, pollution, drugs, violence, etc., convinced that only when a problem is known and become aware of it is possible to correct it or, even better, prevent it.
Favaloro received innumerable international distinctions among which stand out: the John Scott Prize 1979, granted by the city of Philadelphia, USA; the creation of the Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery “Dr René G. Favaloro” (Tel Aviv University, Israel, 1980); the distinction of the Fundación Conchita Rábago de Giménez Díaz (Madrid, Spain, 1982); the Argentine Master of Medicine award (1986); the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (1987); The Gairdner Foundation International Award, awarded by the Gairdner Foundation (Toronto, Canada, 1987); the René Leriche Prize 1989, granted by the International Society of Surgery; the Gifted Teacher Award, awarded by the American College of Cardiology (1992); the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement (1993); the Prince Mahidol Prize, awarded by His Majesty the King of Thailand (Bangkok, Thailand, 1999).
He always maintained that every university student must commit to the society of his time and stressed: “I would like to be remembered as a teacher rather than as a surgeon.” For this reason, he dedicated a large part of his time to teaching, preparing educational programs, and writing books on medicine, education, and society.
In recent times he lived in the Palermo neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires.
His last lecture was given at Quilmes, on July 7, 2,000. At 22 days he decided to end his life. A crisis of a personal and economic nature linked to the maintenance of his Foundation, led him to make the decision to commit suicide on July 29, 2000, at the age of 77. His unexpected disappearance is a painful loss for humanity.
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