Why choose IHS
Prof. Lucio Parenzan
Doctor of Medicine - Public Health Merit Medal
Lucio Parenzan was born in Piran on 3 June 1924. He graduated in Surgery from the University of Padua in 1948. In ’56, he left Italy to specialise in paediatric surgery at the University of Stockholm. However, it was between 1957 and 1959 in the United States, at the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, that he had the insight that so-called blue babies, those children suffering from Tetralogy of Fallot, should undergo surgery on the third day of life. It was thus that Parenzan began to perform many of these operations, saving children with this severe congenital heart defect from certain death.
He later returned to Italy and served as head physician in Trieste until 1964, when he moved to Bergamo. For over 30 years, until 1994, he was the director of the Paediatric Surgery and Cardiac Surgery Division at the United Hospitals. He brought two Cardiac Surgery Congresses to this city (in 1966 and 1970) featuring world-renowned figures such as Christiaan Barnard (author of the first heart transplant), John Kirklin, Denton Cooley, and Norman Shumway.
Under his leadership, the Bergamo Centre became the largest centre for paediatric cardiac surgery in the world, as defined by Albert Starr, the inventor of the cardiac valve, and as evidenced by the organisation of the 1st World Congress of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery in 1988. In 1985, he performed the third heart transplant in Italy and in 1989 became Scientific Director of the Humanitas Gavazzeni Clinical Institute in Bergamo, founding the INTERNATIONAL HEART SCHOOL, a foundation for continuing medical education (Onlus), from whose ranks emerged doctors who subsequently held positions as heads of department, ministers… those whom Lucio Parenzan always loved to call ’my boys".
Honorary Citizen of the city of Bergamo, in 1988 he received the Gold Medal for Public Health in recognition from the Italian Ministry of Health for his specific meritorious clinical and scientific activity carried out in relation to childhood pathologies. Throughout his life, Lucio Parenzan was also a lecturer in Paediatric Surgery, Paediatric Clinic and Cardiac Surgery at the University of Milan. He performed over 15,000 operations (including 350 heart transplants) during his 30-year career.
Dr. Lucio Parenzan passed away on 28 January 2014 at the age of 89. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him will cherish his teachings and a precious memory of great esteem and affection that time can never fade.
Dr Paolo Ferrazzi
Director of IHS - formerly Director of the Cardiovascular Department at Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, formerly Director of the Centre for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Valvular Diseases at the Policlinico of Monza.
Dr Paolo Ferrazzi, a cardiac surgeon, is the scientific director of the International Heart School Foundation.
During a 46-year career, Dr. Ferrazzi has had the opportunity to work in prestigious hospitals abroad. In Italy, his contribution has been to the development and improvement of new programmes in various specialisations in public and private centres such as Ospedali Riuniti in Bergamo, IFC-CNR in Massa (Pisa), Clinica Humanitas Gavazzeni in Bergamo, Clinica Cellini in Turin, and Hesperia Hospital in Modena.
Dr. Ferrazzi performed the third heart transplant in Italy in 1985, the first heart and lung transplant in Italy in 1991, and has led more than 800 heart transplants. His surgical experience includes more than 10,000 cardiac operations, of which approximately 3,000 were congenital heart diseases and over 1,400 mitral valve reconstruction surgeries.
Dr. Paolo Ferrazzi has been involved in experimental surgery programmes, performing approximately 250 operations since 1987.
He has also been involved in the development of experimental and clinical ventricular assist devices and total artificial hearts.
He is currently the most experienced surgeon in Europe for the surgical treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (more than 500 myectomies).
Training Offer
- Clinical-surgical treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease
- Scientific research in the field of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
History of the Foundation
The International Heart School L. Parenzan J.W. Kirklin – ETS Foundation was established at the Ospedali Riuniti of Bergamo by Professor Lucio Parenzan in 1989.
In 1993, IHS obtained the sponsorship of the Regional Health Department of the Lombardy Region.
The first advanced training course in Cardiology, Anaesthesia and Cardiovascular Surgery took place in 1993-1994. The course, even then, was structured in two parts: the first clinical, which involved attendance at the Ospedali Riuniti of Bergamo, and the second theoretical, which included workshops and lectures given by internationally renowned clinicians.
In 1995, the first International Master's Degree in Paediatric Cardiology, Paediatric Cardiac Surgery and Paediatric Anaesthesia was organised in collaboration with the CNR of Pisa and the Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento S. Anna.
The collaboration with the University of Pisa lasted until 2009.
Significant progress was made in 2011 with the granting of a 2nd-level University Master's degree (1 year) in Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac Anesthesia, and Cardiology by the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Furthermore, in 2011, a framework agreement was signed with the University of Bergamo which provides for collaboration regarding specific studies and research, training, teaching and scientific consultancy on particular problems.
The initial training programme, theoretical lessons alongside hospital placements, is still relevant today and now benefits from the collaboration of the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, as well as other important hospital facilities (Niguarda Ca’ Granda Hospital in Milan, Monza Polyclinic, Hesperia Hospital in Modena, Regina Margherita Paediatric Hospital).
In recent years, over 400 doctors, from 54 different countries, have attended this prestigious school; among them, more than 60 now hold primary roles in their nations (chiefs of department, heads of department, Ministers).
The Foundation's primary focus is on strengthening relationships between the countries involved through mutual collaboration in the healthcare sector, for the creation of an intercultural and supportive scientific network.
Why choose the INTERNATIONAL HEART SCHOOL Foundation
- We are a secular and independent Foundation
- Let's try to convey MORALS and ETHICS
- From 1993 to the present day, we have achieved significant results
Ex-IHS Student winner of the Fontan Prize 2012
We are honoured to share the satisfaction regarding the Fontan Prize win by Dr. Anil Bhattarai, a paediatric cardiac surgeon from Nepal and an IHS student in the academic year 2008-2009. As can be seen from the information below, the Fontan Prize rewards the best young cardiac surgeon. The prize amounts to €30,000.
THE FONTAN PRIZE:
The Francis Fontan Prize was instituted in honour of Professor Francis Fontan, a leading founding father of The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. The Prize is awarded to a medical doctor undergoing specialist training in cardiac or cardio-thoracic surgery. It is not limited to European citizens.
The amount awarded is Euro 30,000 and should cover the costs of one year’s stay at a major European department or any other European research facility. The activities during this year are left to the discretion of the prize-winner and the head of the department visited, but should primarily involve fields such as research training, research activities, advanced clinical education and/or departmental management.