There really wasn’t a magical panache to success. I simply worked hard and tried to figure out the next step in life to the best of my abilities…
Ara Nazarian, an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, has worked with and mentored over 130 undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from his early career days to date. Together, they have produced a body of work, consisting of almost 100 peer-reviewed publications, 2 books, over 10 patents or patent applications, 3 startups and over 250 abstracts and conference proceedings. Dr. Nazarian’s other activities include serving as editorial staff on 2 journals, ad hoc reviewer for 17 journals in the field, invited lectures in the United States and abroad and participation in the HMS International Research Initiative, the HMS Explorations program and the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair as a judge.
– Mr. Nazarian, you are one of the leading scientists working in the orthopaedic and trauma fields in the United States. Please, tell a little bit about your way to a successful career.
– I hold an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, two master’s degrees in biomedical engineering and clinical medicine respectively, and a PhD in biomedical engineering. My family moved to the United States as I was about to start college. Obviously, it was challenging to start in a new setting, with new language and customs, having been born and raised in the Middle East. However, I was able to focus on my studies, and the fact that I was the only Armenian at my university, forced me to communicate solely in English. This was significant in honing my communication skills and to take in the culture and norms of my new home. There really wasn’t a magical panache to success. I simply worked hard and tried to figure out the next step in life to the best of my abilities, given that I did not have a significant network to draw from for experience and advice. This was when the internet was at its infancy, so abundant information was not at your fingertips, as it is today. By and large, I was fortunate enough to be in a good environment and have mentors who had my best interests in mind. Being in a nurturing environment and taking advantage of the resources available were great assets presented to me. I simply combined them with my desire to succeed.
– How did you decide to choose the profession of a doctor?
– I very much enjoyed my undergraduate training as a mechanical engineer. Half-way through my junior year, I started to become very interested in human physiology and pathology. I could see them as engineering systems that work and sometimes go awry from disease. I thought it would be a worthy career to apply my engineering skills to solve medical problems, and hence my introduction to the field of biomedical engineering. Upon graduating, I enrolled in a biomedical engineering master’s program, and as they say, the rest is history.
– You visited Armenia two years ago. From your point of view, what are the main challenges in the sphere of orthopaedic surgery in our country?
– I think we have a number of issues with healthcare education and delivery in Armenia. The root causes are complicated and multifactorial. We have a young country that has gone through a major earthquake and a war all in a span of less than 30 years, while gaining independence. So, the educational and medical systems have undergone significant stresses in this period. Much like any resource constrained nation, we do not have adequate financial resources to cover patient care costs. As a small nation, we are not a large enough market for large medical device/pharma players to set up shop in Armenia. We have an educational system that needs to undergo modernization. We need to modernize patient care, and not just in a few hospitals in and around Yerevan, but throughout the entire country and Artsakh. We need to address issues of conflict of interest and corruption in this sphere. We need to increase research budget to start to tackle our medical needs and those of other countries similar to us. We have a solid background from the Soviet times to take advantage of before it is too late. We have the brain power and the knowhow from the Diaspora to start an educational and scientific revolution, as our main export. The medical field is no different. Orthopedics and trauma are perfect fields, as they are very device oriented fields, where lack of devices and equipment, either due to low supply or exorbitant cost, results in lack of care delivery, and lack of care delivery results in worse conditions and increased morbidity and mortality in patients and rusty skills for care providers. We also have to tackle social issues surrounding medical care and delivery at the population level to better educate our people about seeking medical help when needed. We also need to better educate our physicians to embrace a more transparent and team-oriented approach to care. Not one person has all the answers. Simple things such as morbidity and mortality conferences are not common place in Armenia. This is a real problem. As you see, the problems are many, but so are our resolve and intellect. Given the right frame of mind and the right environment, we can achieve anything that we want/need to achieve, including a healthy and self-reliant population to provide care and to innovate in the field for the betterment of mankind. There are many nations and millions of people in very similar status as we are in Armenia. We can be a beacon of medical innovation and care for the developing world. Most importantly, we can provide excellent care for all citizens in our own country, regardless of their socio-economic status.
– Professor, do you manage to relax? How do you prefer to have a rest?
– I spend time with my family as much as I can, as I have two boys 5 and 10 years old. Also, I like to ski a lot. So, I pretty much ski every weekend during the winter with my family.
– What is your advice to future doctors? Do you have any special principles leading to a success?
– Medicine is a noble profession. I also understand that people have to think of their and their family’s financial well-being. It is important to know why one gets into medicine, and for the right reasons. Staying true to one’s main reasons to become a physician would be my advice.
– Does your Armenian origin play any role?
– It certainly does. The independent and friendly streaks that are shared by many Armenians are certainly alive and well in me. I enjoy working in a group setting and have a large collaborative network, while maintaining some independence for my work and my group. It is an Armenian dichotomy .
– Do you plan to visit Armenia again?
– Absolutely, my family and I plan to be in Armenia in the August of this year. We enjoy our time in Armenia and Artsakh immensely, given the beautiful nature, the incredible food and spending time among our fellow Armenians.
Author: Tatevik Ghazaryan