Intended for healthcare professionals

Student Careers

All the president's men

BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0411416 (Published 01 November 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:0411416
  1. Tiago Villanueva, final year medical student1
  1. 1University of Lisbon, Portugal

Eduardo Barroso, a general surgeon by training, specialised in transplant surgery in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, in the early '80s. In 1986, he became doctor to the Portuguese president and remains presidential doctor to the current president. He has developed a prolific career in the Portuguese media as a television guest and commentator, newspaper columnist, and author of four books.

Why did you decide to specialise in transplant surgery?

I always wanted to become a liver surgeon, and to treat liver diseases; I also had to know how to do transplants. I think a liver-biliary surgeon must offer a transplant as the only alternative to terminal chronic liver disease. So rather than a transplant surgeon, I consider myself a liver-biliary surgeon who also does transplants.

I went to Cambridge because I knew there was a lack of professionals working in liver surgery at the time in Portugal. Nowadays, my transplant centre is the only one in Portugal which also does renal transplants, and we will soon begin doing pancreatic transplants as well.

How did you begin your career in the media?

Eight years ago, one editor of a Portuguese daily newspaper asked me to write a weekly column about cigars. I thought it was rather simplistic to write about cigars, so I proposed writing about the pleasures of life. I've never stopped writing since then. These chronicles have resulted in four books, and besides the pleasures of life, each one covers a different issue, such as my hospital career and medical education. My third book is a compilation of chronicles I wrote in a sports daily newspaper for five years in a row about football and the football team Sporting Lisbon during the year they were league champions.

A friend of mine, who used to run a national television channel, invited me to be a commentator on a panel of a sports debate show, which took place every Friday night live for four hours in a row. I did that for three years.

How did you become a presidential doctor?

I am the nephew of the former Portuguese president Mário Soares and was already his doctor before he became president. When he became president, he told me he would like me to continue doing the job. When he finished his mandate, I remained in place as one of the doctors of the current president, Jorge Sampaio.

What are the highlights of the job as a presidential doctor?

I have been on dozens of presidential trips all around the world. I have had the opportunity to see things. For instance, when I went to Russia I stayed in the Kremlin, in the room where Catherine the Great had her affairs. And Mikhail Gorbachev himself gave us a guided tour through the Kremlin. When I was in Egypt, the area around the pyramids was evacuated for us, and we were able to visit them without a single tourist around.

Figure1

my presidential and media work have hampered me and created a lot of jealously

Does the job influence your personal or professional life in any way?

Let me answer this with a story: I once invited Sir Roy Calne, my mentor in Cambridge, to a conference in Lisbon. It coincided with the Formula 1 grand prix in Portugal, so he asked me if I could find a way for him to watch it. So I took him on the presidential entourage. We were late, but we travelled on the opposite side of the road and made it just in time. He got the chance to meet Nigel Mansell and take a picture with him. He tells me that he had already been treated in many countries like a VIP, but never like a king. These are things I could never provide even if I was a millionaire.

Is this a job with more glamour than work involved or the opposite?

I have never even received any money for it. The current president wanted to pay me, but I told him I would continue doing the job only on a voluntary basis. He once underwent heart surgery, so I interrupted my holidays to give him moral support, and, at the family's request, I went on television to relay his medical condition. I was holidaying in the country, so I left my family there for some days, took my car, drove for three hours, and paid for the gas myself. He can't pay me for this sort of thing, because it's all about friendship.

Some trips are not at all pleasant. For example, I went to Bosnia-Hercegovina because the president insisted that I go with him. I flew alongside him in the helicopter over the destroyed areas and saw horrible things.

Your career seems to have been about being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people

I finished medical school with the highest marks, and I progressed in my hospital career on a competitive basis, that is, through eliminatory public examinations. The rest, both my presidential and media work have hampered me and created a lot of jealously.

Notes

Originally published as: Student BMJ 2004;12:416

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