As we have seen in the previous numbers of “We the Italians”, Italy offers top-notch quality healthcare. As we have also seen, this level can’t be achieved only with strong investments and the most advanced technologies: it takes years to build it, and the best investment is always in the people. The catch is that this type of effort takes years.

Very rarely does a doctor become great out of nothing, simply with their own energy. Indeed, it takes generations: a great doctor needs a great teacher. In the last number of “We the Italians”, we looked into the importance of advancements in stem cells and their use. In particular, through the eyes of one of these great doctors, Professor Zanasi.

In this article, we will focus on another great doctor: Professor Sandro Bordin. In addition to being a great doctor, Sandro Bordin is a visionary. He was pivotal in the creation of the first medical tourism company in Italy. Good friends of the CEO, Claudio Paccanaro, after years of experience accumulated in the management of hospitals, gave his suggestions on the process of creating the company. However, this was simply something he did in his “free time”. Dr. Bordin is a groundbreaking otolaryngologist, specializing in operating on minors and kids, a very delicate task that not everyone would take.

Although he is very reserved, he has made the news a few times. Like we have seen with Dr. Zanasi and his techniques combining stem cells and prosthesis, doctors of this level usually take the hardest cases. When this happens, they make the news. During his period as the MD of otolaryngology in the hospital of Venice, for example, he caught the public’s attention by performing a life-saving surgery on a Brazilian tourist. The young man swallowed a spring from his braces and, to “get rid of it”, he decided to eat a piece of bread to push it down. This decision could have cost his life because the spring got stuck in his esophagus, and an emergency surgery had to be performed. What is interesting is that, to perform the surgery most effectively and speedily, a poison was used to anesthetize the patient. Shortly after the surgery, the patient was able to continue with his vacation.

A further interesting case was with another young tourist who had a perforated eardrum. Unaware of the problem, he dived into the sea, causing a severe infection. Things turned for the worse when he went into a deep coma. Lucky for him, Dr. Bordin was at the hospital and was able to perform an emergency surgery on the mastoid bone, which was affected as well. The patient almost immediately got out of the coma and, after some more time at the ICU, he was able to fully recover. These events, however, gave Dr Bordin the opportunity of warning tourists. «Many people underestimate infections or minor problems – he said – but these could lead to much bigger issues that could put patients’ lives in danger.»

Of course, Dr. Bordin is not only known for these cases. He is a pioneer in Italy, the first to insert a cochlear implant directly into the brain, through the skull. This happened on the 15^th of July 2014, when Dr. Bordin performed the surgery on a patient suffering from severe mixed deafness. These are but some examples of his career and cases he accepted. Dr. Bordin now works with Medical Tourism Italy as a consultant and is available to treat foreign patients. This is also an example of the level of professionals the company can provide, which is its main mission.