Dr Pedro Basilio a colorectal surgeon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has a passion for exploring new opportunities. He travels the world to learn from other experts in his specialty, and brings back the knowledge he gains to his home country, to support his patients and the public he serves.
Outside his surgical work he finds opportunities to forge strong relationships with clinical colleagues through a mutual love of sport.
These deep connections, along with a series of happy coincidences, have helped to shape his career so far. The first fitting coincidence was that he was born in the same hospital that he would later work in as a clinician in his first job - San Joseph Hospital.
The hospital’s director was also a friend of his grandfather, who was an obstetrician, and the inspiration for Dr Basilio’s choice of career.
Originally, Dr Basilio was set to go to study medicine in Brazil at a public university. But his love of horses, and of show jumping in particular, led to a valuable connection that was to change the course of his medical training.
“I’ve always loved horses and have been riding since I was two years old. I used to practice show jumping. And I would be very excited about taking part in show jumping tournaments and championships,” he says.
His sporting achievements led him to a chance encounter with the then president of the Brazilian Equestrian Confederation, who also owned a group of universities.
“He told me: ‘You will do medicine at my university on a scholarship, and maybe represent the university at show jumping tournaments’. And so that’s where I went - to Gama Filho University.”
During his third year of studying medicine, his professors suggested he miss some classes in order to attend tournaments, which forced him to choose between show jumping and medicine.
“I decided to quit show jumping and to become a doctor. I told the owner of the university I was quitting the scholarship, that I would pay for university, but would dedicate myself to my medical career,” he recalls.
“However, the owner replied: ‘I gave you a scholarship to go to medical school - and you can have that scholarship until the end of your studies’. I was so grateful.”
Dr Basilio went on to do his residency in general surgery. Mid way through his residency in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute, he was working night shifts at a private hospital.
“One night I was in on call, and an emergency doctor called me to say that they needed a vascular access. I rushed into emergency to do the procedure. When I spoke to the patient, he said: ‘I know you’. He was the owner of the university.
“I carried out the dissection of the brachial vein. As we chatted, he became emotional and started crying - which moved me a lot. He said: ‘The scholarship was nothing to me at that time. I have a lot of them to distribute. But look at what I get back. My own health’. And so the message is: if you do good things, life will manage to pay you back later.”
Since the start of his career in medicine, Dr Basilio has invested time, effort and resources in progressing as a clinician.
“That has always been my intention”, he says. “While my friends were buying cars and apartments, I invested in my studies.”
Then, during his residency, his supervisor recommended that he should spend time learning from the distinguished Italian breast surgeon Professor Umberto Veronesi at the National Cancer Institute of Milan. “My boss - who was very well connected - sent a fax to Professor Veronesi who straight away asked me to come to Milan.
“Three months later, I was at the institute meeting the professor, who was not only the director of the hospital, but also a medical celebrity in Italy, as important as the minister of health. It was amazing to meet him, and I spent a great three months there,” he says.
Early on in his career - right after he concluded his residency in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Brazil - he saved up to go to Florida where he worked for a year doing a research residency at the Cleveland Clinic.Dr Basilio has continued to learn new skills through taking time to travel to hospitals in different countries to meet the people who are changing the face of surgery.
“In my life I always try to ‘merge’ the things I like. I love to travel, and I also love to know new things - new ways to think, to treat, to operate.
“So whenever I read an interesting article, I travel to wherever the author is based, to learn from them, and to extract more information from real life than what is written in a paper. And I think about how I can develop that learning and use it in my practice life.”
As surgeons develop their careers, with that seniority comes leadership, and it is important to learn the necessary skills to carry out leadership roles effectively. For Dr Basilio, that learning began during his surgical oncology when he was made chief resident. “This was my first position as a leader. I learned from former surgical oncology department heads, the different ways to lead, and to try and get the best from people,” he says.
His leadership skills also developed while working as a military surgeon.“Before you start work at the hospital, you have to do military training. And with military training, you're training to be a leader. But you have to pass all these steps - and this was quite an experience,” he says.
Once, he recalls, he was assigned on a mission to lead a medical team support a military intervention when there was a prison rebellion. “The mission was to assist the police officers who might be injured during the invasion of the prison facility. I was leading a small team of two doctors, three nurses and four emergency physician assistants. On arrival at the prison, we parked the ambulances outside the prison walls.
“Suddenly, an order came to send our unit inside, where there was a lot of gunshot noise. Two guys were injured, and about a dozen had eye burns from pepper gas spray. It was quite an experience. I was wearing an armoured vest and carrying a 9mm pistol. I called my mother before I went in,” he says.
Another memorable experience during his time as a military surgeon was during the summer of 2011, when there was a natural disaster. “Heavy showers had destroyed some mountain cities around Rio De Janeiro. There were several casualties. I helped to find people, and to get medicines, water, and other supplies to them,” he says.
Currently, Dr Basilio’s leadership positions include president of the Brazilian Board of Colorectal Surgeons, and president of the committee for the Brazilian Congress of Coloproctology 2022.
“I’ve tried to learn how to manage people in a way that makes everybody happy. That is my aim with leadership. You join forces with people, and try to extract from them the best things they have to offer. And this is not easy. With leadership, you have to train, and you have to learn - and I’m starting to learn,” he says.
Dr Basilio and his fellow clinicians have been learning from the lessons that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a lot of problems during the pandemic in Brazil,” says Dr Basilio. “We have a vast territory, and a huge population. So in order to manage that, the government had several difficulties, such as having to buy healthcare equipment and vaccines from abroad, and choosing where to find the best healthcare facilities.
New facilities were also built to deliver healthcare services during the pandemic only. Within a reasonable amount of time we got on track,” he says.
Post COVID, the Brazilian healthcare sector as a whole - and more specifically surgery - continues to face challenges, he says.
“We have a lot of difficulties, specifically in the prevention of colorectal cancer. There have also been delays in colonoscopies, and to treatments, including chemotherapy, which have had a significant health impact.
“Now, we have to fix all those problems. So we're trying to increase the availability of examinations and surgery for all these patients,” he says.
He explains that while there is a shortage of qualified surgeons and doctors in Brazil, a bigger problem is where they are distributed.
“Our doctors are concentrated in the main cities, but Brazil is a vast territory. So we need to spread these doctors around the country. We have some government programmes that do this, but distribution is still a real challenge for us.”
For Dr Basilio, a love of sport helps him to deal with the pressures of work. He remains a keen sportsman and has recently discovered a new passion - one that he is showcasing to the whole of Brazil.
“I discovered beach tennis through Facebook. I tried it once, then I fell in love with the sport. It’s like beach volleyball, but with a lower net. “It’s a very inclusive sport - you’re at the beach, so you have the sun, the sea, the relaxing atmosphere. Children and old people can play beach tennis. You can play at a high level if you want to train - and I train every day,” he says.
“We have a cafe, a rooftop bar, and four courts. We even have our own Flamengo beach tennis club rackets and hats,” he says.
Just like his trips to visit the sources of the latest clinical research, Dr Basilio wanted to travel to where beach tennis originated - a journey that took him to Romagna near Venice, “where I booked lessons with some of the best trainers in the world”.
And once again, his love of sport has led to a happy coincidence and a strong clinical connection.
“In Romagna, I was introduced to one of the professional players’ fathers who was a doctor. We had lunch together, and found out we both worked in colorectal surgery. So we developed a partnership - he came to Brazil and attended operations with me to discuss some of my cases. And now we’ll be collaborating for years to come.”
Interview by Kathy Oxtoby
