Tornike Sologashvili, a cardiac surgeon, is among the successful graduates of Tbilisi State University who have become prominent on the international stage. He is currently a professor and the head of the Department of Congenital Heart Defects at the University Hospital of Geneva. Sologashvili is the guest of this edition of "TSU Graduate," and he talks to us about his journey and the role of TSU in his life.

And it all started like this...

“After graduating from the Komarov School of Physics and Mathematics, people often asked me why I chose the medical field, and even why I chose the Faculty of Medicine at Tbilisi State University over the Tbilisi State Medical Institute. The reason was simple. As the son of university graduates, I found Tbilisi State University to be a more familiar environment, almost like a second home. I decided to become a doctor while was still in school, after a relative of ours survived due to an operation (heart bypass surgery) in Germany.

My parents visited our relative, who had returned to Georgia after the surgery, and they came home amazed. They told me how the doctors had transplanted blood vessels to the patient’s heart, saving his life. I had thought about becoming a doctor before, but hearing this story finally convinced me to become a cardiac surgeon.

My parents were initially students and graduates of Tbilisi State University and later they continued working as professors and teachers at the same university. My father, Jemal Sologashvili, headed the Master's Department for many years and served Tbilisi State University for about 40 years in total,” Tornike Sologashvili notes.

Tornike himself studied at Tbilisi State University’s Medical Faculty from 2000 to 2007.

“In the first year, our lecturer, Nodar Khodeli, asked us what specialty we wanted to pursue. At that time, cardiac surgery practically did not exist in Georgia. The only procedures performed were simple operations at the Institute of Surgery.

Mr. Khodeli promised me that if I proved myself worthy, he would take me to the Institute of Surgery to observe an operation. Later, the university acquired St. Michael's Hospital as a base for the medical faculty. Under Mr. Khodeli’s leadership, my group and I built the operating unit “Sagvame” there. It was a place where we could work more intensively, and, with Mr. Nodar’s help, it was fully equipped with the necessary equipment. We could perform surgery on cadavers. In Georgia, it’s hard to believe that a student has the opportunity to do something that is often not possible even in clinics in developed countries,” Tornike tells us.

Tbilisi- Poznań-Geneva

It was precisely this kind of active practice that allowed the young specialist to meet a foreign scientist. Professor Afksendiyos Kalangos came to Georgia as part of a humanitarian campaign to perform surgeries on patients with congenital heart defects. Tornike, a third-year student, was conducting scientific research on animals in the clinic’s laboratory. After seeing a video of Tornike performing an operation, the professor was impressed by the young surgeon’s skill.

In the fall of 2008, Tornike traveled to Poland at the recommendation of the Open Heart Clinic. There, he worked in the congenital heart defect department at the Children’s Center of the University Hospital in Poznań. It was there that he performed his first independent surgery at the age of 25. There, he met Afksendiyos Kalangos, who recognized the young, talented Georgian doctor. Later, Kalangos offered Tornike a job at his clinic in Switzerland.  

Since 2010, Tornike has been a pediatric cardiac surgeon at the University Hospital of Geneva. After completing his residency, Sologashvili stayed at the clinic and has performed surgeries there ever since.

He is also actively involved in annual humanitarian missions in Africa. He often comes to Georgia to perform free surgeries. The doctors brought by Tornike also perform charity surgeries. They take patients abroad for especially difficult cases.

Tornike Sologashvili was awarded the Order of Honor by the President of Georgia for his services to the homeland. He is an honorary citizen of Mtskheta. In 2018, the Georgian cardiac surgeon was awarded a Doctor of Medicine degree in Geneva. He is the author of numerous scientific articles.

“I am a professor at the University of Geneva, which also has a resident center. In developed countries, it is becoming increasingly difficult to perform surgeries. This is especially true since most operations are already bloodless. What was possible in our country, in terms of training operations three times a week, was only possible once a month in Europe. This faculty has something that many do not have, and not only in Georgia. Accordingly, I think there is no objective reason why a traditional faculty with such potential should be closed,” Sologashvili says.

The famous cardiac surgeon says that he is ready to support talented young surgeons and help them find their path. During a meeting with Tbilisi State University Rector Jaba Samushia, they discussed TSU’s great contribution to the career advancement of the Georgian doctor, as well as the issue of student assistance and counseling.

As a successful graduate, Tornike recently visited the university at the invitation of Maia Bitskinashvili, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine. A conference of TSU Faculty of Medicine graduates is also planned at Tbilisi State University in the near future.

According to the experienced doctor, the qualities a future cardiologist/cardiac surgeon needs the most are a strong sense of responsibility, analytical thinking, attention to detail, stress management skills, the ability to work well in a team, and empathy. He added that continuous learning and professional development are necessary because this field is constantly evolving.