René Prêtre (born 1957) is a Swiss pediatric heart surgeon at the

University Hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. He has performed thousands of surgeries on children's hearts.

Early life and education

Prêtre was born into a family of farmers in the countryside of Canton Jura, as one of seven siblings. His father was a farmer and a Jurassian independence activist who was summoned five times before a judge. Prêtre learned to work with his hands and to repair farm machinery. His grandfather was a

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

. Prêtre initially wanted to become a farmer or a football player, but applied for a position in medical school after a colleague from high school suggested it to him and told him the deadline for applying was approaching. In 1988 he graduated from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

general surgery General surgery is a Surgical specialties, surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and Abdomen, abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, Appendix (anatomy ...

. Between 1988 and 1990 he followed up on his studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where he specialized in cardiovascular surgery. He completed his formation in cardiovascular surgery at the University of Geneva in 1994, and became a lecturer at the university the same year.

Professional career

As a student at New York University in the late 1980s, Prêtre was a surgeon at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. After his graduation in 1994, he became a surgeon at the

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS F ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1997 he joined the University Hospital in Zurich and by 2002 he was hired as Professor for pediatric cardiovascular surgery at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

. Since, he performed cardiovascular surgeries also at the . In 2011, it was reported that he would leave the

University Hospital of Zurich The University Hospital of Zürich (, USZ) is one of five university hospitals in Switzerland. The first hospital in Zürich, from which the current hospital derives, is recorded as having existed as early as 1204. The name, location and build ...

and be hired as the head of the cardiovascular division at the University Hospital of Lausanne in August 2012. The same month he was appointed as a professor at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

. As in 2015 the Romand University Centre for Cardiology and Children's Heart Surgery (CURCCCP) was created, he became its coordinator for children's heart surgery. Through the CURCCCP, he was appointed as a professor at the University of Geneva in 2016.

Surgery

Before specializing in heart surgeries, Prêtre performed surgeries on victims of gunshots and stabbings at Bellevue Hospital in New York. There, Prêtre and his team would listen to "

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" by the

Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled ...

, which according to him had a good rhythm for surgical work. Throughout his career Prêtre has performed surgeries on about 9,000 hearts of which around 6,000 were children's hearts. When operating, he wears glasses with a five-fold magnification to improve his eyesight. Some of the surgeries can last up to fourteen hours, during which he drinks very little fluid in order to be able to stay in the

operation room Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. Through his NGO Le Petit Coeur he annually travels for a few weeks to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

to perform heart surgeries.

Personal life

Prêtre is a fan of the French football club

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

and played football in the Swiss regional league during his studies. He currently avoids drinking more than one glass of wine. Prêtre was married and has two daughters.

Recognition

2009 Swiss of the Year 2020 ''Prix des Arts, des Lettres et des Sciences'' of the Canton of Jura The planet 162937 Prêtre is named after him.

Book

2016 memoir, ''Et au centre bat le coeur: chroniques d'un chirurgien cardiaque pédiatrique''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pretre, Rene Pediatric surgeons Swiss cardiac surgeons 1957 births Living people University of Geneva alumni New York University alumni Academic staff of the University of Geneva Academic staff of the University of Lausanne Academic staff of the University of Zurich People from the canton of Jura 21st-century Swiss physicians