EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS: “The work is not for everyone”
WORLD TRAVELER: Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Norberto Schechtmann doesn’t get involved in the politics of Cuba or China, but prefers to focus on the humanitarian aspect of his educational visits.
DR. NORBERTO SCHECHTMANN has been sharing his expertise in interventional cardiology for eight years with annual visits to Cuba – and more recently with educational missions to China to demonstrate advanced techniques in his specialty.
DR. SCHECHTMANN faced several touch and go moments with patients during his demonstrations for Chinese cardiologists.
Following his first mission to China during December 2006 in association with Cordis, a stent manufacturing company, the Melbourne, Florida-based MIMA physician was invited to return the following year.
He visited hospitals in Beijing, Hong Kong, and other areas to perform angioplasty and stent-placement demonstrations, which he fondly calls “shows,” and conduct seminars.
“It was a hectic schedule, the pressure was intense and you don’t have the support you do here, but I thrive on challenges,” he said. “Every time I return home to work I feel really lucky to have all the resources I have available here.”
Schechtmann faced several touch and go moments with patients during his demonstrations for Chinese cardiologists and hospital staff. He used his creativity, years of experience and inner calm he calls “tranquilo” to deal with several emergencies.
CHINESE CARDIOLOGISTS are instructed by Dr. Schechtmann on angioplasty techniques with before a case in a Beijing hospital.
“They don’t work with the kind of safety net we do here. But when it comes to missions you have to be able to adapt to your environment rather than expecting it to adapt to you,” he said. “The work is not for everyone.”
As part of the educational exchange, China cardiologists visited Holmes Regional Medical Center.
Schechtmann said he is driven in part to share life-saving techniques with cardiologists in other countries because he himself has benefited greatly from being able to travel to learn about the latest and greatest treatments.
“Wherever someone is developing a revolutionary technique, I go there to learn about it,” Schechtmann said.
Greatest Country on Earth for Medicine
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Schechtmann came to the United States in 1981 for a research fellowship in Nuclear Cardiology at University of California, San Francisco, soon after finishing his residency in cardiology at Hospital Ramos Mejia in Buenos Aires.
“I wanted to come to the greatest country on Earth for medicine,” he said.
Dr. Richard Myler
He had been inspired by a cardiology lecture earlier that year given by Dr. Richard Myler, M.D., a pioneer in coronary angioplasty, at a conference in San Francisco. Before Myler performed the first angioplasty in the United States in 1977, bypass surgery had been the only option for patients with coronary artery blockages.
IN FRONT of the 900-bed Bai Qiuen Hospital in the Hebei province of China.
“I remember it like it was yesterday. I was completely shocked by Myler’s discussion. It changed my life,” he said.
After about a decade of additional medical training in the United States, getting various medical degrees and certifications, finally in 1990 Schechtmann had the chance to train with Myler.
“I was almost 40 years old, and finally I was able to fulfill my dream of working with him,” Schechtmann said. “It was an amazing experience.”
Schechtmann came to work with MIMA in Melbourne, Florida in 1992, and has been with the group ever since.
“When I first moved to Melbourne it seemed really small because I’d spent most of my life in big cities, but it grew on me,” said Schechtmann, who lives in Melbourne with his wife, Fe. The couple have three children, David, 23, Simone, 20, and Carlos, 18.
During the years Schechtmann has lived in Brevard County he said he has seen interventional cardiology become even more popular for the treatment of both coronary and peripheral artery blockages. In recent years Schechtmann introduced the use of stents to treat carotid artery blockages at Holmes.
“Interventional cardiology has revolutionized the way we treat patients. Fewer and fewer patients are undergoing surgery,” said Schechtmann, who has frequently trained over the years at hospitals across the country to learn new interventional techniques.
Cuba “50 Years in the Past”
Dr. Schechtmann first visited Cuba in 2000 after meeting another cardiologist from Argentina at a conference in 1999 in Madrid. The cardiologist told Schechtmann about an annual conference in Havana, Simposio International De Cardiologia Intervencionista.
“He got me an invitation to lecture at the conference in the next year, and that was the beginning of my work in Cuba,” Schechtmann said. “I fell in love with the Cuban people.”
Now Schechtmann participates in the annual conference and performs stent and angioplasty procedures during his visits. He also brings valuable used medical equipment and supplies to help Cuban doctors better assist their patients.
CLEARING CUSTOMS: Dr. Schechtmann at the Beijing airport with his mother, Perla, and their chaperon- interpreter, Elton.
“Equipment is constantly being updated. It’s still useful, so it’s wonderful to be able to share it,” Schechtmann said.
He doesn’t get involved in the politics between the United States and Cuba, but prefers to focus on the humanitarian aspect of his visits, he said.
The missions aren’t just fulfilling from an altruistic standpoint, however, but also because he enjoys his time in Cuba, which is in many ways 50 years in the past, he said.
“Materialism hasn’t spoiled things there. The people have less but seem happier with what they have than we do here in this country,” said Schechtmann, who has taken his son Carlos on a visit there.
Schechtmann feels a similar fondness for China, and took his 83-year-old mother, Perla, when he visited last July. Because she suffers from a heart condition and has a pacemaker he had a wheelchair on hand for her.
“I took her all around the Forbidden City. Being there with my mother…It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my whole life,” he said.
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