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The host of the program “Without a Prescription” died in Moscow. The famous cardiologist, head of the emergency department of coronary surgery at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute, Yakov Brand, according to preliminary data, died of heart failure.
Early in the morning of June 12, the heart of the famous doctor, cardiac surgeon Jacob Brand, stopped beating. For many years he headed the emergency department of coronary surgery at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute. It was there, within the walls of his native institute, that Yakov Beniaminovich spent the last hours of his life. He was 63 years old.
As certain media reports, he was observed for some time at his own institute, solving emerging health problems. On May 30, his health worsened and Brand was taken to the hospital. According to preliminary data, the cause of death was heart failure. His son Pavel spoke about this on his page on the Internet.
“Today, as a result of a long illness, my father, Yakov Beniaminovich Brand, died. He was a famous heart surgeon and television personality and a wonderful father. Dad lived a bright and difficult life. There were undoubted victories and disappointments. Alas, his life was cut short quite early, at the age of 63. Despite this, this post will not be a mourning one, in it I would like to express gratitude. Gratitude to the doctors who were with him until his last breath. That's what he wanted. He wanted to express gratitude to all the doctors of the Research Institute of Emergency Care named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky, to whom he dedicated 17 years of his life and personally to Sergei Petrikov... I am very grateful to all the doctors who are listed in this publication, and am eternally indebted to them. I want to thank my father for his life, surname and profession and for the invaluable advice that he gave me all this time. He was a true master of his craft, the likes of which no longer exist. Everlasting memory…” – wrote Jacob Brand’s son.
Pavel Brand also expressed gratitude to all the doctors with whom his father worked and who treated him, by name.
Jacob Brand had many outstanding abilities, thanks to which he acquired not only thousands of grateful patients, but a long list of regalia. He was a Doctor of Medical Sciences, a member of the Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons of Russia and other countries, and a laureate of the State Prize of Russia for discoveries in treatment coronary disease hearts in cancer patients, author of a large number of works in various fields of surgery. Dr. Brand became known to the general public thanks to his participation in television programs that raised health topics. On the NTV channel for more than 10 years, starting in 1999, he hosted the program “Without a Prescription”, as well as the program “Coma”. The cardiologist was originally from Odessa, his parents were doctors. Lived and worked in Moscow since 1981. He has 3 children, the youngest of whom is currently 8 years old.
Yakov Beniaminovich Brand is a famous cardiac surgeon, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, head of the department of emergency coronary surgery at the Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky, permanent host of the popular TV show “Without a Prescription” on NTV. Photography is one of our guest's main hobbies.
You were born into a family of doctors. Who influenced your photography?
My late father was interested in photography all his life. He had a FED camera (“Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky”), modeled after the German Leica camera. And he taught me photographic magic. She was completely different, not like she is now. It was necessary to load the film into the cassette in the dark, then wind it onto a spiral into the tank so that it did not stick together. Then the developing process had to be stopped, a fixer had to be used, then the film had to be washed and dried. And only then could we move on to the printing process - lock ourselves in the bathroom, hang a blanket over the door; red flashlight, enlarger, developer again, fixer again... In general, interesting. There was a mystery in all this, which attracted me, a boy, very much.
- Did your father give you your first camera?
Yes. He occasionally gave me his FED, and then gave me “Smena”. A little later there was “Zorkiy”, then something else...
- So you have been constantly involved in photography since childhood?
No, after those first experiments there was a long break. I don’t even know what he was connected with. Perhaps you’re just tired of loading the film and generally dealing with this process. Later, color photography appeared, and it became completely uninteresting. You shoot, send it for development and printing, they give you an envelope with finished photographs... This sequence seemed boring to me. But then he started filming again. I even do not know why. Probably due to travel. My team and I drove a lot, saw a lot of interesting things, and wanted to preserve it all. I tried to shoot video, but quickly realized that photography was more impressive.
- So, you mostly shoot while traveling?
No, I shoot everywhere. I always have a camera with me. One soap dish, Casio, is in the briefcase, the other, Canon, is in the car.
- Why don’t you use some more advanced technology?
So you can’t put it in your briefcase. I take cameras with me just in case: what if I come across something interesting? I very rarely go somewhere just to take photographs.
- At your exhibition I saw many works of completely different themes...
I don't have a specific topic.
- So you shoot in absolutely all genres?
You see, a professional photographer may have a certain genre. But I’m not a professional, so my photographs cannot be classified into any specific genres. I just shoot what interests me - say, a leaf or a flower... One of my favorite photographs is legs, male and female. This is how they stand, which speaks volumes. I also love the shot of a baby being spoon-fed; you may have seen it in the album. So I shoot everything that interests me. I’m not looking for any special perspective and I’m not expecting any special inspiration.
- You had a lot of different series. How does the idea to film this or that series come about?
With the series about a cat, everything is simple - I have a cat at home, whom I love very much. So I take it off periodically. I really love filming rain. Sometimes you get very interesting photos, and sometimes nothing happens.
- You collect bulls. Do you have photographs of these animals?
Yes, I collect them, but there are no photographs. Two of my friends, professional photographers, many times offered to photograph my collection and make some kind of funny calendar, for example. I somehow didn’t think about photographing bulls. Maybe in the future...
- Do you take pictures at work? Maybe colleagues?
I very rarely photograph my colleagues. There are a lot of people in my photographs; I love taking portraits. What kind of masked portrait is this? The eyes are not really visible, nothing is visible. You won't even understand who it is.
One portrait photographer said that the main thing in a portrait is the eyes and the soul. Moreover, the eyes do not have to be open
Well I do not know. I come to the operating room to operate, not to take photographs. These actions cannot be combined. If I need to record something interesting in the operating room, then I invite a person with a camera, and he takes pictures.
- So, you are a supporter of the idea that everyone should mind their own business and be a professional in it?
Definitely. That's why I say: I don't professional photographer, and, apparently, I won’t be one anymore. It's just one of my hobbies.
- What other hobbies do you have?
Bulls, hunting. I love to sing.
- Has the camera replaced hunting?
Only to some extent. Still, hunting is more excitement, and I am a gambling person. I don’t do photo hunting, it’s either hunting or photography.
- How did the idea for your one-day charity project come about?
- As a not very modest person, I like to show my successful photographs to friends. IN Lately I began to hear more and more often from them that it was time to organize an exhibition, look how many works had accumulated! It was funny to me; I couldn’t take such words seriously. But one day I talked with Faina Zakharova, president of the Life Line Foundation, and she also touched on this topic. That’s when I suggested doing a charity exhibition. It took a long time and carefully to prepare, but thanks to Lev Granovsky, Kolya Kanavin, Sveta Vorobyova, the Kodak company and many others, everything worked out. However, it was not easy: it turns out that it was not enough to just give away your photographs. Not so! They had to be edited and selected, because there were either too many or too few pictures. The project was a success. And most importantly, we managed to raise more money than planned. Therefore, we will treat not seven children, as we planned, but eight. I'm happy.
- Can we say that your hobby helped save the lives of children?
Well, if we speak in high style, which I really don’t like, then yes. Ira Meglinskaya, who also had a hand in this project and donated her gallery for it, said that she had never seen works sold out so quickly. What did you want, I answered, these are my brilliant creations! (laughs). Thank God everything worked out. Many thanks to my friends and other friends who were inspired by the idea and helped implement this project, regardless of the quality of my photographs.
-You seem too self-critical. It is often difficult for an author to evaluate his photographs objectively.
No, I wouldn't say that. For example, I have favorite photographs that are absolutely terrible in terms of quality. But I love them, that's all. Although I know that they cannot be printed larger than 20 by 30. And I, perhaps, would like to make a print two by three meters! But the quality doesn’t allow it, what can you do. So I am quite objective about my photographs. - That’s why some photographers use film cameras, the same “watering can”, for example. - It's a difficult question. Some of my professional friends still shoot with plates. Moreover, they believe that the quality is better. I don't mean glass plates, but wide-film, large-format cameras. I saw the result - it's hard to argue. - There are always opposing points of view. For example, there are people who shoot on film and say that only in film can the soul be preserved. - Don't think. I believe that the soul is preserved in relation to what you shoot. I have always said that if you take a glass and ask a hundred photographers to shoot it with the same camera, then one will come up with a masterpiece, and the rest will not come out with anything good.
- At least everyone will have different photos. It is a fact.
And there will be only one glass. I even had the idea of doing such a competition. Not necessarily with a glass, but in this format. Moreover, everyone will take photographs from the same distance, without changing the angle.
- Harsh conditions.
It's one thing if you shoot macro, and another if you shoot with a telephoto lens. -It is clear that these will be different glasses. But try shooting from three meters, with the same lens for everyone. You can play with light, you can come up with something else. For example, during a shooting competition, everyone shoots from 25 meters with almost the same weapons and cartridges, but some hit the mark, while others are unremarkable. That's all. It all depends on what you want to say with your photography or what you feel when you take it.
- What is photography for you personally?You started talking about feelings - how do you feel?
I said why I like photography more than video - it imposes some kind of story on you... So you take a photograph, and it shows some kind of bug. There are millions of these spider bugs on the Internet! But your associative connection immediately works. You remember where you filmed this bug, what the weather was like, whether you had a fight with your girlfriend that day or, on the contrary, everything was perfect for you after a wonderful night. So I don't understand what's so great about an abstract painting. Perhaps some part of my brain is poorly developed. But I really love shooting light - you probably noticed that I have such work. They evoke in me certain associations, emotions... perhaps even more emotions than associations. After all, this is movement, frozen movement. A person looks at any picture, and associations immediately begin to arise, the photograph ceases to be foreign, a contact arises. Although there are completely soulless photographs - if you look at photographs from the congresses of the CPSU Central Committee, you will understand what I am talking about. They are terribly formal and do not arouse any interest. But if even the slightest emotion arose, the ruler of the country simply scratched his nose! - then interest instantly arises. I believe that the meaning of photography lies in this frozen moment that awakens associations.
- Do you plan to hold exhibitions in the future?
I don't know yet. Of course, I would like to do charity work, but I don’t have enough work yet. Maybe I will encourage my comrades, who take pictures much better than me and have traveled to many more countries, to support some similar project.
- How many doctors are interested in photography?
- A lot of. - Why? - Hard to say. I've never thought about this question. Any part of society - the army, the police, doctors, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, officials - is a cross-section of the society in which we live. I think the number of amateur photographers is approximately the same everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people post their photos on the Internet. This means they have a need for someone to see their work, evaluate it, and discuss it. People even steal photos from each other. A couple were also stolen from me; at one time I posted them.
- How often do you visit photo exhibitions?
Rarely. - Which photographers do you follow? - Behind the work of Granovsky, of course. I also really like the way some of my professional friends work, for example, Evgeniy and Vladimir German.
- Continue the phrase: photography is...
Photography is good. It’s good for the soul, for the eyes, even for the body if you’re walking somewhere in nature. And it’s also good for maintaining internal balance and calm. Because you are trying to connect with the world around you. Anyway.
Interviewed Vladimir Povshenko
Jacob Brand: “Photography is good. Good for the soul, for the eyes, even for the body...”
___________________________
Before starting his medical career, Yakov Brand was a student at VGIK. True, not for long. He failed miserably in the entrance exams. "Hello!" - said the native Odessa resident. And I heard in response: “Goodbye!” In his native Odessa, his theatrical education was carried out by the head of the studio of the House of Railway Workers named Rybchenko. Obviously, the preparation of the future TV star - and in the studio he was a puppeteer - turned out to be insufficient for the country's main cinematic university. But young Yasha’s remarkable acting skills came in handy at a factory pioneer camp near Odessa. His uncle worked at the factory. In order for his nephew to be accepted into the friendly camp detachment, he had to become Lenya Lusher - that was the name of his uncle’s son. And he became so accustomed to the image of this same Lusher that he did not respond to his real name. In order not to give himself away during the two months of the pioneer summer, the future Doctor Brand imagined that he was a scout on foreign territory. And this went on for five school years. Five years - and not a single failure!
These tricks were needed to get a free ticket to the camp. Yakov’s parents were doctors, and doctors, as you know, did not receive a decent salary even then. But the parents of Jacob Brand had a rather rare surname. Perhaps the ancestors of the charming doctor “from TV” once lived in Germany. Yakov Beniaminovich would like to find namesakes and create a “Brand Society”. Such thoughts visit the famous doctor-TV presenter today, but in his youth, with his half-German and half-Jewish surname, Brand could not enter the Odessa Medical Institute. The party's policy was aimed at creating indigenous national personnel, universities willingly accepted people from surrounding villages and villages with Ukrainian surnames, and not Russians, Armenians, Georgians, Jews, and so on. Therefore, I had to start my medical education at the Kemerovo Medical Institute and continue in Odessa.
One can only marvel at our Jewish resourcefulness: in order to get to the pioneer camp, we had to change from Yasha Brand to Lesha Lusher, and to become a doctor, we had to travel from Odessa to Kemerovo and back.
The choice of a medical profession was not accidental - Yakov followed in the footsteps of his parents. And Dr. Brand’s penchant for television journalism was inherited. My father, unfortunately, is already deceased; in his youth, before receiving medical education, he graduated from the Jewish Journalism College in Kharkov and was one of the main specialists in Yiddish in the Soviet Union - people came to consult him from different cities. He remained faithful to the language of our grandparents until last days wrote to the Birobidzhaner Stern newspaper. But Yakov Beniaminovich himself knows only a few phrases in Yiddish; he is more interested in Hebrew. “I don’t really like Yiddish - there’s a lot of German in it, and my genetic memory resists that,” says Dr. Brand.
Yakov’s father himself did not strive to teach his son Yiddish; he believed that in Soviet reality he was unlikely to need mame loshn. But, despite the semi-nomadic life in military camps, Benjamin Brand spent a lot of effort so that his son mastered the Russian language. In the fifth and sixth grades, Yasha got bad marks in this subject. However, the father was much more worried about this than the son. This is probably why for several years, from seventh to tenth grade, my father wrote dictations with Yasha almost every day. My mother also paid a lot of attention to her son. “I won’t be mistaken if I say that I grew up in a surgical department,” admits Yakov Brand. - From the age of three, my mother took me with her to work - there was no one to leave me with at home. I am still sure that growing up in a surgical department is no less romantic than behind the scenes of a theater or on a film set. My mother’s patients loved me very much, they taught me not only to read and write, but also to play the guitar.”
Stalin in full view
At the Sklifosovsky Research Institute in Dr. Brand’s office there are many photographs of political figures and actors. And among them is a portrait of Stalin in full height, in an overcoat. Under it is the well-known slogan: “Personnel decides everything.” It turns out that Dr. Brand is not indifferent to Stalin, he even wants to write a script or a book about him. And this despite the fact that Yakov Beniaminovich’s grandfather, a weaver, originally from Poland, fled to the country of the “rising sun of socialism” in 1927, was repressed in 1937 and died six years later in Stalin’s dungeons. “I'm interested in Stalin's personality,” says Dr. Brand. - Yes, he was a villain and a maniac. But this man held the whole world in his hands. And no one tried to understand how he was able to achieve this. Everything that I read about him is divided into two categories: the first is that he is a torch of all times and peoples, the second is such a bastard, such a bastard, the likes of which the world has never seen. But I can’t escape the thought that this unprepossessing, short Georgian was a man of genius, and in fact a world dictator.”
Best of the day
Much seems mysterious to Jacob Brand in the life of the “father of all times and peoples.” And the fact that he was born around the same time as Adolf Hitler, but he was a small fry compared to him. And how Stalin managed to build politics, the state and industry. However, the most mysterious thing is how he managed to force the Orthodox people to destroy their shrines? Dr. Brand would like to understand all this.
How the Memory Society returns memory to Jews
Jews constantly migrate: some to Israel, some to the USA, some to Germany. But Dr. Brand managed to avoid the “departure” epidemic. And a significant role in his decision to stay in Russia was played by communication with such medical luminaries as Renat Akchurin, Evgeny Chazov, Mikhail Perelman, Boris Petrovsky and the famous Michael DeBakey from Boston.
But changes in place of residence did happen in the life of Yakov Beniaminovich. For example, from Odessa he came to Moscow, as he himself says, “in the usual way” - by marrying a Muscovite. In the capital, he began working as a doctor in the 51st hospital, in the emergency microsurgery department under the guidance of Professor Akchurin, who became his Teacher.
Dr. Brand doesn’t come to Odessa often - he says there’s no reason. He buried his father in Moscow, and now, according to Jewish tradition, he visits his grave twice a year - on the day of his death and on his birthday. “This is the custom among Jews - men cannot visit the cemetery more often.” Dr. Brand also respects the Sabbath: he does not shave or drive a car on Shabbat. Three years ago he stopped eating pork. And it’s not harmful to health, and it seems to keep kosher. This is how Jews gradually become Jews. Paradoxically, the organization “Memory,” known for its anti-Semitic orientation, “facilitated” Yakov Beniaminovich to return to his roots to some extent.
Teletherapy according to Brand
The doctor who distributes health prescriptions to a million television viewers is, alas, not free from bad habits. Yakov Beniaminovich explains his commitment to cigarettes this way: “I must be stupid in at least something. But still, I hope that in the next year I will quit smoking. I won’t lie, I love smoking - I enjoy a cigarette. But I’ll stop anyway, if only because you can’t be a slave to your habits.”
One of Dr. Brand's useful habits is his love of singing. True, he rarely sings, but he often recalls the famous Utesov song “By the Black Sea”. He even sang to me from Utesov’s repertoire: “But life always remains beautiful, no matter how old or young you are.”
Finally, Yakov Brand said a few words about his popular program “Without a Prescription”: “For me, my appearances on television are a continuation of my medical work. What do I talk about in my programs? About different aspects of medicine, but one direction - education. I have repeated more than once: “healing on TV” is impossible. But to improve people’s mood, to instill faith in life, love for it - that’s what I’m trying to do. Nowadays, when medicine is not accessible to everyone, best recipe- try not to get sick. It makes sense not to smoke or drink. Although Academician Chazov says that “alcohol in small doses is useful in any quantity.”
I will end my notes with this academician’s recipe. Mazal tov!
Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Scientific Director of the Department of Emergency Coronary Surgery of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky
PHOTO: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjAcu0NgV15/?taken-by=sklif.officialOn the morning of Tuesday, June 12, the famous cardiac surgeon Yakov Brand died in Moscow. This was reported by his son Peter Brand.
The farewell will take place on June 15, 2018 at 11:00 in the historical building of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky,” he clarified.
Most recently, Yakov Beniaminovich celebrated his 63rd birthday.
REFERENCE
Born on May 20, 1955 in Odessa, where he graduated from the Odessa State Medical Institute in 1979. Had more than 35 years of experience in cardiac surgery
Yakov Beniaminovich Brand - professor, doctor of medical sciences, scientific director of the department of emergency coronary surgery of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky. Born on May 20, 1955 in Odessa, where he graduated from the Odessa State Medical Institute in 1979. He had more than 35 years of experience in cardiac surgery. Representative of the scientific school led by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Akchurin. He was part of the team of surgeons who performed coronary artery bypass surgery on the first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin.
Winner of the Moscow Prize in the field of medicine for the work “Surgical treatment of various forms of coronary heart disease.” Author and co-author of more than 200 scientific papers in various fields of surgery, author of the monograph “Surgical treatment of acute coronary circulatory disorders.” Member of the Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons of Russia and several countries. For a long time he worked as the host of the television programs “Without a Prescription” and “Coma” on the NTV channel.
The operating team of the emergency microsurgery department at the 51st City Clinical Hospital, which performed a unique operation to replant the legs of a three-year-old girl (from left to right): Yakov Brand, Elena Antonyuk and Ramazi Datiashvili.
CONDOLENCES
Mogeli Khubutia, President of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky:
He was an amazingly friendly, hardworking man. A brilliant surgeon who knew no rest. He had a 24-hour cardiac surgery department, which is very hard work. There are very few of them in general, he worked day and night and was sincerely devoted to his work. And I’m not saying this because it’s either good or nothing about the dead. No. I say this absolutely sincerely, because we were also connected by personal friendship. He left behind a generation of good surgeons. Moreover, it was not he who counted how many students he had, but on the contrary, his students themselves called him a teacher. And today these people operate brilliantly. He has a lot of merits, and if we now begin to list them all, one conversation will definitely not be enough for us.
Mikhail Alshibaya, cardiac surgeon, Department of Coronary Surgery, Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery:
I knew Yakov for a long time, probably 25-30 years already. We've always had a great relationship. I can only say good things about Yakov, both as a professional and as a person. In general, he always loved life. His child was born not so long ago. He was still interested in photography, entered this field quite deeply and professionally, and regularly published his photographs. This has always fascinated me. It’s a terrible pity for him, because he’s a relatively young man, only 64 years old. Probably the tragedy of any doctor is that at some point he himself becomes a patient. Although we never talked about medical problems with him personally. We argued a lot in a friendly manner about medical issues, but did not touch on each other's health. And now he's gone. This is very sad.
Vadim Andreev, Associate Professor of the Department of Emergency and General Surgery of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Postgraduate Education on the basis of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after N.S. Sklifosovsky:
He was a completely unique person, cheerful, and it was always interesting to be with him. An excellent surgeon and friend. What else can you say about him? Very sad news. Bitter irony, yes, but doctors usually die from what they themselves treat. Oncologists for oncology, cardiologists for heart disease.
Viktor Sokolov, head of the department of emergency cardiac surgery, Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after N.S. Sklifosovsky:
It was very good man, was doing a lot of serious work. Of course, we all regret his passing. However, it is impossible to say that we were not ready for this. His friends and colleagues knew about his illness; all this happened before our eyes. Of course he will be missed. Like any person with whom we spent a lot of time together, working in parallel. You may not see each other for a long time, but everyone always knows that there is a person nearby whom you can always turn to, who can turn to you and discuss some issue. He was a great man.
Passed away on June 12, 2018 Yakov Beniaminovich Brand- famous cardiac surgeon, head of the department of emergency coronary surgery at the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky, TV presenter of the programs “Without a Prescription” and “Coma”.
As part of a team of cardiac surgeons in 1996, he performed coronary bypass surgery on the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.
Yakov Brand knew how to talk with patients (he could discuss the upcoming operation with a patient for two hours), he could tell the truth to his boss in unprintable words, and in general he wanted to become an artist, but it didn’t work out, and he went to medical school.
In medicine - doubt, in life - do not give in
— What did you learn from your father as a doctor and a person?
“It seems to me that it would be correct to separate the doctor and the person here.” As a doctor, I remember well one phrase that my father once said: “A doctor must always think and doubt!” This principle still helps me a lot in medical practice. Unfortunately, our doctors usually don’t think or doubt.
Peremptory actions of doctors are the scourge of our country, which results in not very good consequences for patients.
As a person, what I respected most about my father was his integrity. It was absolutely impossible for him to compromise with his own conscience. If he thought something was wrong, he did not do it under any circumstances.
By the way, he suffered repeatedly for his integrity. For example, about fifteen years ago my father was offered to buy one medical device, writing down in the documents an amount twice as large as it cost. The father refused in a harsh manner, after which he was sent away by one of the heads of the Department of Health. His father looked at him and asked: “Is this for work or friendship? If it's for work, then I'll go. If it was out of friendship, wouldn’t you go yourself?”
Of course, he could not prevent all the evil in the world, but he considered participation in gray-black schemes absolutely unacceptable for himself. It was a taboo for him in medicine.
Surgeon and teledoctor
Jacob Brand in one of the programs. Screenshot from youtube.com
— Dr. Brand hosted television programs for many years. How realistic is it to present such a complex thing as medicine in television format? It seems that treatment is an individual action.
— It all arose quite by accident. After Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin’s operation in 1996, the film “Yeltsin’s Heart” was shot, where my father, as one of the surgeons who operated, gave an interview. The TV people really liked him as a colorful person, and when the idea of a TV show that would be hosted by a doctor arose, he was invited, and for ten years he became a TV presenter.
This combined with the life of an operating surgeon: the program ran on a weekly basis, and once a month on Sunday, four programs were filmed at once for a month in advance. So, having spent one day off a month on filming, the rest of the days my father continued to operate on a regular schedule.
I don’t think that the television format “degrades” medicine. One of the main tasks of a doctor is education, when information is conveyed to the population, the wider the better.
Now we have educational doctors who write books and host television shows. People have a lot of topics, questions, and bewilderments. And it’s good if an authoritative specialist answers them.
The process of television work itself was very close to my father. After all, at one time he really wanted to become an actor. I think this desire, to some extent, pushed him to TV.
- Why didn’t Yakov Benyaminovich go to the theater?
- He went. I came to some theater university, went to the dean of the faculty and said from the doorway: “Hello!” with a characteristic Odessa accent. The dean immediately said: “Goodbye!”
After which he had no choice but to follow in his family footsteps into medicine.
Patients want treatment and comfort in a 50/50 ratio
— Russians have an archetype of a good doctor, an aibolit, who not only heals, but who is kind. Talks to you, consoles you, invigorates you, and so on. You wrote about your father that he knew how to talk with people and considered this skill absolutely necessary for a doctor.
— I don’t know how it was at the beginning of his medical career, but in last years Long conversations with patients were the norm for my father. Those seventeen years that he headed the department of emergency cardiac surgery at the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky, he could communicate with patients and their relatives for several hours. He spoke about the prospects for treatment, about possible consequences certain medical manipulations - this was completely normal for him. He then continued to communicate with many patients and became friends.
— But how to combine such communication with the current purely medical workload of a doctor?
“The fact is that my father was never an ordinary doctor, he never worked in a clinic - he did not conduct outpatient visits. This was communication regarding the specific operations of his patients.
Nowadays, Soviet medicine is often idealized - but in fact, in the Soviet years everything was the same as today - communication with the patient at an outpatient appointment was never a priority for doctors.
But serious specialists did not limit the time for such communication. If necessary, the father could communicate with patients for two or three hours. There was always someone sitting under his office who needed attention, and he found time to explain everything to the person, and simply discuss something with him.
— From your current medical practice, do you think that patients expect to be communicated with?
- All people are different. Someone needs to quickly, just get information. Someone needs to ask clarifying questions and talk to the doctor. But still, people want to get as much information as possible, so now I myself don’t hold meetings for less than one and a half to two hours.
As a rule, this time is occupied 50/50 - with information and reassurance, giving the patient some kind of comfort. My father performed quite serious operations, I can assume that his patients also needed reassurance.
The Myth of a Respected Profession
S.M. Fedotov, “Doctors” (1970s)
— You mentioned the idealization of Soviet medicine, when “doctors were more responsible and knew more.” Do you think this is nostalgia, an illusion? What then are its reasons?
— The fact is that trees are always big in childhood. The high quality of Soviet medicine is not just an illusion, it is a very harmful illusion. There really wasn't anything particularly good there. But when any system changes, there will always be people who say: “It was better before.”
Yes, there were probably more doctors then. But the doctors also received pennies. There were no normal medications. The country did not carry out high-tech operations that were already being done all over the world. Being behind the Iron Curtain, we were forced to come up with some of our own theories, which had already been tested and rejected all over the world.
By and large, we are now dismantling the legacy of Soviet times - an isolated healthcare system.
But the trouble is that nothing has yet replaced Soviet medicine.
Another huge problem: people begin to think about their health only when they get sick. This approach is now changing around the world - doctors, patients, and governments are trying to think more about prevention. For now, we only think about how to live well and beautifully, and we will deal with the disease when it comes.
“Maybe that’s why we used to respect doctors so much: a person was “suddenly” overcome by illness and there was only one hope - for the doctor as a rescuer!
— Excessive respect for doctors in Soviet time– this, again, I’m afraid, is a beautiful fairy tale. I think the attitude towards the doctor was not a matter of respect - it was a matter of personal necessity.
When your pipe bursts, you also run to the plumber shouting: “We will do whatever you say!” Is this a sign of respect?
True respect is shown not when something has happened, and not when it is a matter of profession or specialty. Respect should be shown for the fact that a person studies all his life, and then works very hard.
About three years ago I visited Sweden. They measure the “trust rating of a doctor.” That is, how many patients, after listening to the doctor’s recommendations, will unquestioningly follow them and will not go to another specialist for a second opinion. The trust rating of Swedish doctors is 96%. For us it’s good if it’s 4%. That's it, respect.
Is the doctor responsible for the patient's health?
—What is the ethical credo of today’s doctors? The “Hippocratic Oath” was abolished a long time ago.
— At one time at the institute, I took a so-called course in bioethics and deontology. It was, in my opinion, the fifth year, the lectures were in the evening in the most mossy auditorium of the most mossy building. At most half of the students made it to those classes, and even those during the lectures, as a rule, slept or played cards. These were the lectures.
The Russian doctor has no concept of ethics, because he was not taught this in principle.
That is, everyone knows this word, but everyone is terribly far from fulfilling it. For example, many people here have little idea of what medical confidentiality is. It is normal for us to inform the patient’s relative of his diagnosis, even the patient did not ask for this and did not give consent to it.
We will discuss the patient's condition with his relatives and colleagues. We have a huge problem with allowing relatives into intensive care, while throughout the world this is considered the norm, and it does not harm anyone, but only helps.
It’s completely normal for us to come to a doctor’s appointment with another doctor’s prescription to hear the phrase: “What idiot prescribed this to you?”
Yes, there was an oath between Soviet and Russian doctors. But by the way, when I was studying, even this oath was no longer mandatory, but voluntary. And I very much doubt that it has legal force.
In my opinion, it is much more promising to adhere to the classical principles in medicine - “do no harm”, “act in the interests of the patient”, and the same medical ethics. The doctor must give the patient the most complete information, educate, and try to do everything possible to cure him, even if the patient actively resists.
And only if the patient very actively and informedly resists (in full consciousness signs the appropriate documents refusing treatment), the doctor, respecting his free decision, should not treat him.
Most doctors in Russia act either in the interests of the medical system, or in their own interests, or in the interests of the private clinic that they represent.
At the same time, in the patient’s mind, the doctor is for some reason a unique being who has unique knowledge. In fact, doctors are also people, just like everyone else, with their own shortcomings and advantages.
Moreover, in our country, a doctor’s knowledge, as a rule, is twenty-five years out of date, and he is no longer an expert in his field. Of course, there are doctors who support high level medical literacy, work in the paradigm of evidence-based medicine and act solely in the interests of the patient, but there are catastrophically few of them - according to my estimates, no more than 5%.
A special problem in Russia is that the group of doctors 40+, which is especially significant in terms of age all over the world and is at the peak of its career, is practically absent here.
We have people from forty to fifty, those who studied in the nineties either did not go into medicine or left the profession. In addition, the quality of treatment is greatly hampered by our programs and plans to create some kind of national medicine instead of integrating into the global system.
Patients need to become partners
— What should a patient do in such conditions?
- Look for your doctor, there are no other options.
You need to understand that 80 percent of exacerbations of chronic diseases go away on their own over time and do not require any medical intervention. In the same 20% of cases when intensive treatment is needed, the patient will have to largely take responsibility, delve into the specifics of his own illness, try to look for some nuances that the doctor may not know, may not be able to, or may not understand.
It's good when this happens at a therapist's appointment. Being unconscious on the operating table, a person can hardly advise the surgeon what to cut and what to sew. But you can read in advance about the methods that are used in treatment and study existing statistics.
At the same time, you need to understand: a patient cannot become a professional in his own disease; to do this, he needs to learn to filter information, and this is difficult to do even for doctors who have special education. But the patient will be able to become an accomplice in the treatment process. And this is no longer enough...
Jacob Brand. Photo: Alexey Nikolsky / RIA Novosti
Yakov Beniaminovich Brand(1955-2018) – Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, since October 2001 he served as head of the department of emergency coronary surgery at the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after. N.V. Sklifosovsky.Hereditary doctor. Father Beniamin Volfovich is a surgeon, mother Anna Yakovlevna is a dermatovenerologist, sister Margarita is an infertologist and a specialist in female infertility.
He was involved in charity work and organized his own photo exhibitions in support of seriously ill children.
He was a member of the board of trustees of the Life Line Foundation, the founder of the Golden Hearts charity foundation, and also the chairman of the organizing committee of the Golden Heart Award.
On November 5, 1996, as part of a team of cardiac surgeons, he performed coronary bypass surgery on the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.
In 1999-2010, he was the author and host of the television program “Without a Prescription” on the NTV channel. In 2001-2003, he was the host of the program about drug addiction “Coma” on NTV, paired with musician Sergei Galanin.