Editorial

Dr. Ricardo Isidrón Pérez, pioneer of Maxillofacial Surgery in Sancti Spíritus

Miguel Ángel Ramírez Cruz¹ 
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4578-1392

Rosa Margarita Guerra Otero^{1  *} 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3542-7982

¹Hospital General Provincial Camilo Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Cuba.

On September 17^th, 2021 we received the sad news of the death of "Profe Isidro", as we affectionately called to Dr. Ricardo Isidrón Pérez; the first specialist in Maxillofacial Surgery in Sancti Spíritus; considered a precursor of the specialty in the province. He was an example for all the generations that followed him, for his dedication to work, as well as the affection and respect he had for his patients, colleagues and students.

Isidrón, from working class origin, was born on April 8^th, 1947 in Sancti Spíritus city. He began university studies at the Stomatology Faculty of the University of Havana in 1966 and graduated in 1970 with excellent results. He began his working life as a general stomatologist at the Stomatology Clinic in Sancti Spíritus region formerly called Las Villas province, where he firstly performed teaching empirically and also oral surgeon functions until 1977, when he enrolled in the Maxillofacial Surgery specialty at the Santa Clara Clinical Surgical Teaching Hospital and graduated in 1980.

As a specialist he was placed in the same year at the Sancti Spíritus Clinical Surgery Hospital (old hospital) and founded, together with Dr. Rogelio Ayala, the Maxillofacial Surgery Service in the province, being the first director. He also taught in the initial training of Stomatology until he was categorized as Instructor in 1982 and supported the training of Stomatology and Nursing technicians.

In 1985, he represented Cuba at the Latin American Congress of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, held in Ecuador, where he presented several papers.

In 1986, while participating in the inauguration of the new hospital (Sancti Spíritus General Provincial Hospital Camilo Cienfuegos), he was agreed Chief of the Maxillofacial Surgery Service. In 2002 he obtained the category of Assistant Professor and was part of the first faculty of the specialty in Sancti Spíritus, he taught postgraduate courses, participated in workshops, conferences and served as a member of qualification boards of the career and specialty.

He served for two years of internationalist mission in the Republic of Zimbabwe (1989, 1990) as a surgeon and postgraduate professor, also in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 2007 to 2011; upon his return he joined the General Provincial Hospital Camilo Cienfuegos until 2012, after 42 years of uninterrupted work, he decided to retire.

In December 2015 and in response to a call from the Ministry of Public Health he rejoined the service and actively participated in all activities. He kept working all the time throughout the pandemic in medical assistance work and supporting the direction of the Maxillofacial Surgery department, until he became ill with Covid-19 and died.

He maintained an exemplary career, dedicated to his work, responsible, disciplined with extraordinary human values. For this reason, a memorial plaque (Figure 1) was unveiled in his memory on December 3^rd, 2021, which is at the entrance of the Maxillofacial Surgery Department of the Sancti Spíritus General Provincial Hospital Camilo Cienfuegos; that day in an emotional act, his collective made tribute to long years of work, joys, sorrows, dreams and realities in life the service to who was the specialty pioneer in the province.

He will be remembered every moment in the service or at the hospital when requiring of his initiatives, ingenious arrangements or every surgery with wisdom and dedication.

Stomatology and especially the Cuban Maxillofacial Surgery mourn his physical loss.

Thank you Profe, brother, colleague, friend for your legacy and example; your colleagues won’t ever forget you.

Fig.1 Memorial plaque in memory of Dr. Ricardo Isidrón Pérez. Maxillofacial Surgery Department of the Sancti Spíritus General Provincial Hospital Camilo Cienfuegos.  

Received: April 27, 2022; Accepted: May 06, 2022