Among the places Martin Vogt visited was the Rustavi Mental Health Center in Tbilisi as well as half a dozen doctors in regional hospitals and universities. He also talked to several leading industry figures, including Grigori Pirtskhalaishvili, who, among other things, works as a consultant for Novartis Social Business and helped Vogt navigate the Georgian healthcare landscape and establish contacts on the ground. Another important door opener was Michael Kangas, director for regional partnerships at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.
While all of his meetings left a mark on Vogt, one very intimate encounter was with Dr. Guga Kashibaze, a plastic surgeon and Head of the Burn Center at the Simon Khechinashvili University Hospital in Tbilisi, as well as his mentor, 90-year-old Prof. Besik Iashvili.
“Guga Kashibaze was a very impressive figure,” Martin Vogt recalls. “His stern and fixed expression, his idiosyncratic moustache that made him look almost like a hipster, were the outward marks of an extraordinary man intent on helping people.”
Martin Vogt was able to document Kashibaze’s work in the surgery ward, where he treated a girl with severe burns. After the intervention, Martin and Guga sat together to talk about the surgeon’s professional experience, the challenges of his daily work and the shadows of the war that still haunt him at times.
“In the 1990s, when I was pursuing my career in medicine,” Kashibaze said, “Georgia was in a very difficult position. The Soviet Empire had collapsed. Instead of a bright, free future, the country fell into crisis mode, leaving many people without a job and without hope. Many friends of my generation have not survived this time. Personally, I found strength in medicine.”
Kashibaze’s will to help others kept him sane during the wild transition years. It also partly prompted his decision to specialize in surgery for burn victims in the mid-1990s, joining the team of Besik Iashvili.
Iashvili, who is often described as the father of combustiology in Georgia, had studied in Moscow and later came back to Tbilisi to set up the Burn Center, which he expanded and modernized with the help of foreign sponsors. His move was timely. By the early 1990s, the country had sunk into one of its darkest periods. Violence was rife and led to a rise in the number of burn victims.
Although Iashvili has stopped performing surgeries due to his advanced age, he often visits the Burn Center. He also arrived on the day Martin Vogt held his interview with Kashibaze. When he joined the two, Iashvili told Vogt about the institute’s past and the difficult transition years, when the hospital had to be heated with firewood.
He was also full of praise for Kashibaze. “Guga grew up in front of my eyes to become a great professional, the best of his generation,” Iashvili said, adding that he likes to exchange views with Guga regularly and learn about new treatment methods that can improve outcomes at the Burn Center.
Guga, who blushed at the solemn praise, remained quiet, all the while keeping his concentrated demeanor that reflected the huge physical and psychological strain after the long operation. Vogt wondered how he coped with the stress. “One way to regain my balance is mountaineering,” Guga Kashibaze said. “I love sports that give you adrenaline kicks. I love to climb steep and craggy hills, but am also fond of paragliding. But at the same time, I have a very meditative side. I like to paint and am a big fan of graphic design,” he said.
As the interview neared its end, Martin Vogt asked whether Guga would now go back to his office to calm down a little bit. “I have no office. My office is the operation room,” he replied.
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Time and trust
