PROFESSOR PAULO ROBERTO SAVASSI ROCHA — EX-PRESIDENTE DO COLÉGIO BRASILEIRO DE CIRURGIA DIGESTIVA

The thesis, entitled Determination of the optimal points for resection of ischemic intestinal loops by “Dopplerometry, Thermometry and Fluoresceinoscopy: Experimental study in dogs”, analyzed a topic — intestinal ischemia and extensive resections — in which I was very interested2. Once again, I was impressed with the clarity and didactics in the presentation of the work, as well as with the security and propriety in the answers to the formulated questions. During the flight back to São Paulo, in the company of Doctor Emil Burihan, Full Professor of Vascular Surgery at Escola Paulista de Medicina, now Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), also a member of the Judging Committee, we talked about the candidate and the thesis argument and concluded that we were witnessing the birth of a future great professor at UFMG. Doctor Paulo Roberto Savassi Rocha is a mineiro in heart and soul and, like any good mineiro, enchanted by his land, its history, and its values. He graduated from UFMG in 1969. After graduation, he worked for a period as an assistant to Professor Mahrdas Salvador Nankran, a renowned surgeon from Belo Horizonte, who contributed a lot to his training and growth. He then took the exam, being admitted as a resident of General Surgery at the Hospital das Clínicas of UFMG, in Belo Horizonte. After completing the residency program, he took another exam, this time joining as Teaching Instructor of the Surgery Service. He then enrolled in the Postgraduate Course (stricto sensu), defended his thesis and had a rapid and fulminant evolution in his academic career, reaching the position of Full Professor of Surgery in 1991. Its trajectory is very rich. In a short period of time, he became a well-known surgeon throughout Brazil. He is a constant figure in the most important surgical events, with dozens and dozens of lectures both in the country and abroad, being invited to numerous participations in examining committees of postgraduate theses and competitions in the academic career in several institutions in the country.