An interview with Dr Pierides
Graduating from Leeds Medical School, 50 years ago, Dr Pierides, recently awarded distinction as a member of the International Hippocratic Society, has led an impressive career as a nephrologist, working and researching across the world.
Me at the beginning of my career and him at the end, there was surprisingly much still in common, we laughed at the 4am returns from nights out, spoke warmly of the friendliness of Leeds and discussed frankly, the humanity of our patients.
Florence: Let’s start at the beginning, you graduated from Leeds in 1969, what made you leave Cyprus for the cold, rainy North of England?
Dr Pierides: Education in the UK is very good, I studied for A-Levels in London, applying to medical school in London, Glasgow and Leeds but it was Leeds that drew me in. The people, they made you feel part of them. The teachers and the relationships you built with them, from anatomy to clinical medicine were unique.
Florence: I think Leeds still has that reputation; everyone speaks of wanting to come here because of how friendly it felt.
Why don’t you tell me some of your favourite memories from your time here…
Dr Pierides: ‘laughs’, I was what, 20? I’d study until maybe midnight on Saturdays then we’d go out dancing in the clubs until 3 or 4am. I was in the football team, President of the Medical Association and I also used to write for a student magazine, like you. It was called Iatrós, (Greek for Doctor), we used to write about diseases named after scientists e.g. Alport’s disease… I don’t imagine it exists anymore, maybe you can find out…
Florence: So you graduated and began House Officer training, what drew you to nephrology?
Dr Pierides: It was slightly accidental. My early main medical interest was calcium metabolism. After Leeds, I went to work in Newcastle Upon Tyne and met Professor David Kerr, a well-known nephrologist. In Newcastle there was a lot of patients with bone disease, most people on dialysis had fractures. Our research revealed that the water was contaminated with aluminium, those with healthy kidneys could filter it out, but the patients on dialysis couldn’t. With this in mind, myself and Dr Ellis, a pathologist, were able to show that the accumulation of aluminium was linked to fractures.
And it was from there Dr Pierides found his passion for nephrology, he travelled to the Mayo Clinic in the USA and 8 weeks into a placement, was offered a permanent position where he remained for 7 years, before returning to Cyprus to lead the newly formed Department of Nephrology and subsequently establish the Cyprus Kidney Association and Renal Transplant Centre.
Florence: You’ve clearly had opportunity to experience many different healthcare systems, our beloved NHS to the private clinics of the USA, talk to me about this…
Dr Pierides: I believe in the NHS, it’s humanistic, like all healthcare should be, but it’s struggling. I think the state should provide a background healthcare system. In Greece we have a unique system, there is an element of an NHS system but people like to pay for personal doctors. But dialysis, that is free to all, as it was in the States when I was there.
In Cyprus where I live currently, there was the introduction of a new NHS system in August, but we’ll have to wait a few years to see how it performs.
Yet it’s clear private healthcare does open doors, when I arrived in Rochester MN, Mayo Clinic, one of the first operations I saw was a carotid endarterectomy… on a 91 year old who flew in from California, I was in shock… the NHS would never have done such an operation.
We could debate the ethics of such an operation at 91, all day, should paying for healthcare change the level of intervention we offer, should we take more risks to give the patient what they want? Food for thought.
Florence: You’re coming to the end of your career and we’re just beginning; do you have any final words of advice?
Dr Pierides: You’re human, your patients are human. Treat them a smile.
And finally, Dr Pierides requested I share this poem with you, Ithaca by Cavafy, telling me Ithaca is like your career, we should visit many places, meet many people and always remember, happiness is found in the simple things. It begins…
‘As you set out for Ithaka, hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery…’
I’ll leave a link to the full poem and an interesting article about dialysis in the USA. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51296/ithaka-56d22eef917ec
Florence Kinder, Year 3, MBChB
