Pauls Stradiņš Award-winner Prof. Haralds Plaudis: Surgery has transformed from a heroic discipline to a team effort

Photo: Courtesy of RSU

An interview written by Anija Pelūde on the portal Santa and in the journal Ievas Veselība, gives an insight into the life of the winner of the Pauls Stradiņš Award Prof. Haralds Plaudis, a surgeon at the Riga East Clinical University Hospital and a professor at the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Department of Surgery.

A brief summary of the interview.

Asked how it feels to receive the award, Prof. Plaudis says: ‘My beloved university, Rīga Stradiņš University, informed me that I had won the award. The real emotions will probably still come, but today I feel neither joy nor happiness, but rather satisfaction. Since I had to give my academic speech in the award ceremony, I had to rewind the series of events - what has the race been like, what has actually happened? And when I slowly put it all together, I realised that I must have done quite a bit after all!’  What it is that has been done, then? ‘It always comes down to one person who gets the award, but surgery as a field has changed from being seen as a heroic, valorous discipline about fifty to thirty years ago, to now being seen as a team effort. That is why all my colleagues deserve this award as well. If there is no team and no structure, then all we can actually see are individual flashes,’ explains the surgeon. 

He praises the clinic's high number of PhD students - five: ‘They will defend their PhDs in three or five years, and they will not only be scientists, but also know how to combine their practical work as surgeons in the clinic with their research. This creates a great pull for young people in the future.’

Commenting the hospital's strategy, Prof. Plaudis says that it ‘did not come about in administrative corridors behind closed doors or in masonic meetings - all those colleagues who wanted to were able to get involved. Everyone could come forth with their ideas, and the strategy working group put all ideas on the table like a giant puzzle. Similar ideas were grouped and from these we extracted ideas as to what directions we would develop in the future over the course of the next six years in the hospital.’

Prof. Plaudis’ son performed at the ceremony together with his girlfriend. ‘I really wanted him to play,’ says the father

Alongside topics of modern technology, team management, the hospital's future plans and his family, the conversation also touches upon the war... ‘What will you do if it starts?’ the journalist asks Prof. Plaudis. ‘I will stay here.’ And your family? ‘A difficult question. I have two sons, both at recruitment age. I think it will be their decision, but I will try to convince my wife and daughter to leave. If anyone can save themselves, they should. Someone has to stay to defend and protect, but others have to save themselves to rebuild things later. But my answer is clear - I will stay. This is my hospital, this is my country, I am a surgeon and I must help the people in Latvia.’

In conclusion, Prof. Plaudis makes a wish for everyone in 2025: ‘Maybe it is banal, but I wish for peace. I wish for peace in Ukraine, and for people to be at peace with who they are and what they do. If you are not at peace with yourself, everything seems terribly boring. Peace is not complacency – peace is understanding the order of things. I am at peace with what I can influence, and what I cannot influence – it is not worth worrying anyway. I pray to be able to achieve this feeling.’