Julio Taín Blázquez

Dr. Taín is the founder of the Institute of Cardiology, and was part of the small group of doctors who initiated cardiovascular surgery in Cuba, together with doctors Noel González and Felipe Rodiles. He worked in the Calixto García, Joaquín Albarrán, Fajardo hospitals and the children's hospital Pedro Borrás. He was also a Doctor of Sciences and Consulting Professor and was a Member of the Interamerican Society of Cardiology.

He received the Manuel Fajardo medals and the Distinguished Cardiologist of Central America and the Caribbean, as well as recognition for his research and results from surgical treatments.

Julio Taín was born at the former sugar mill Álava, today central México, in the municipality of Colón, Matanzas. It was an early personal decision that led him to study medicine: "My mother was illiterate and my father couldn't influence me much either, he was Spanish and would tell me to study but I can't say he influenced me. A brother of mine was an engineer. I liked medicine since I was a young man. There is no one in my house who is a doctor, I don't have any relatives who are."

To fulfill this purpose he had to study in Havana. In Matanzas he earned his bachelor's degree in Sciences, and studied surveying and land appraisal.

And already on the path to becoming a doctor he had a conviction: "I wanted to be a surgeon. That was clearly defined, but it was Noel González who influenced me to join cardiovascular surgery. I was working with him doing general surgery and I really didn't want to do cardiovascular surgery, but Noel insisted so much that he convinced me," he expressed in an interview conducted by Paquita de Armas.

Doctors Taín, Noel and Felipe Rodiles made up the small group of doctors who initiated cardiovascular surgery in Cuba. "I did all my medical studies in Havana, I worked at Calixto García hospital and Joaquín Albarrán as a surgery resident; also at Fajardo and Pedro Borrás, where I performed pediatric surgery. I did general surgery and very little cardiovascular surgery," said the Doctor of Sciences and consulting professor.

When the Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery was founded, Julio Taín was part of the founding group. His performance heading the Department of Surgery from 1982 to 2003 was instrumental in the creation of an exemplary school of cardiovascular surgery, as the new generations of cardiovascular surgeons proudly affirm.

In his long professional career he received training at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, with professor Vibin O Bjork, at the IKEM experimental clinical institute in Prague with researcher Libor Heijhal and also in Germany, in the former Soviet Union, in Argentina and in Brazil.

A member of the Interamerican Society of Cardiology, he was designated as an honorary member of the Mexican Society of Cardiovascular Surgery. He has been a full professor since 1990, received the Manuel Fajardo medal and the Distinguished Cardiologist of Central America and the Caribbean. He has numerous additional recognitions and has taught more than 40 courses and participated in conferences at hospitals and research centers in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Hungary and Poland. He has published 38 texts in Cuba and 18 in international journals, and presented more than 170 papers at congresses, conferences and symposiums.

Not long ago he told me: "One of the cases I remember most is with a Medical student who was taking his exams in his final year of studies and suffered cardiac arrest. They didn't call me, they called the cardiologist. But I was there and the man was dead. I gave him cardiac massage but nothing worked, I sent for instruments and opened him up right there in the classroom. I had to do it because he was dead. I massaged his heart and today—if he hasn't died from something else—he is a doctor. His name is Manolo Coto, he is a surgeon in Camagüey."

There was another incident that I read in the press. Taín relives it: "A farm boy, I think from Artemisa, ran a harpoon through himself. I was on vacation, at a party at the Institute. The next day I was heading to Pinar del Río, and when they brought the boy in, the surgeon started looking for me everywhere, heaven and earth, and told me: 'Papo, I have a problem here—they call me Papo—I have a boy with a harpoon stuck in his heart. What do I do?'. I told him 'get him in the operating room.' 'Are you coming here?', the doctor on duty asked me. 'If you're going there, I'm going there,' I told him.

I showed up there, they had him prepared, but they hadn't done anything. I operated on him, gave him four stitches in the heart. He was lucky that the harpoon didn't go through any coronary artery or anything. The next day when I was leaving for my vacation I went to see him and since he was doing well I continued my rest."

When asked about cardiovascular surgery in Latin America, he states: "In Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela a lot of surgery is performed. Brazil is a powerhouse; in other countries they also operate on the heart. And if more isn't done it's because it's very expensive. It requires grafts, sutures, valves, all of that is expensive. In short, in capitalist countries whoever doesn't have money doesn't get operated on, but they die."

Investigations
He conducted the following investigations, among others:

Mitral commissurotomy by right thoracotomy
On the results of surgical treatment of aneurysms.
Effect of frequencies on muscle fibers.
Long-term results of surgical reconstruction of Tetralogy of Fallot.
Dynamic cardiomyoplasty.
Cuban artificial heart.

Courses Taught
He taught more than 40 courses and participated in conferences at hospitals and research centers in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Hungary and Poland. He published 38 texts in Cuba and 18 in international journals, presented more than 170 papers at congresses, conferences and symposiums.

Awards and Recognition
He was designated as an honorary member of the Mexican Society of Cardiovascular Surgery. He was a full professor since 1990, received the Manuel Fajardo medal and the Distinguished Cardiologist of Central America and the Caribbean, among other recognitions.