This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
A Conversation with Ph. Gabriel Steg, MD, FESC, FACC
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
This issue, Dr. Bhatt poses five questions to Ph. Gabriel Steg, MD, FESC, FACC, director of the coronary care unit in the cardiology department at Hôpital Bichat, Paris, professor of cardiology at the Université Paris – Diderot, and Cardiology Today’s Intervention Editorial Board member.
Steg received his medical degree from the Université Paris Descartes and completed his residency in Paris. He is a former member of the board of the French Society of Cardiology and is an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He is also a recipient of the silver medal from the European Society of Cardiology.
Deepak L. Bhatt
Ph. Gabriel Steg
To date, Steg has authored more than 650 articles in peer-reviewed international journals. He is a member of the editorial boards of Circulation, Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions and the European Heart Journal, and is the deputy editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Currently, Steg is involved in studies related to interventional cardiology and the epidemiology of atherothrombosis and atrial fibrillation, and is the chair or co-chair of several large clinical trials or registries, including REACH, EUROMAX, REALISE-AF, ODYSSEY CV Outcomes, CLARIFY and THEMIS.
What are your hobbies outside of practicing medicine?
Dr. Steg: I’ve become very conscious about the need to exercise regularly and practice what I preach to patients, so I play tennis once or twice a week, which I really enjoy. I like to watch the NFL on TV, which is quite unusual in these quarters. I’ve recently acquired a taste for and interest in whiskey, and like to relax in the evening with a very good single malt. But my real vice is reading. I read almost everything, from French and foreign literature to histories. My favorite writer is the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges.
Who has had the greatest influence on your career?
Dr. Steg: I’ve had two mentors. One at my institution was René Gourgon, MD, who recently passed away. He was an extremely sophisticated physician with intimate knowledge of hemodynamics and CV pathophysiology. He really shaped my career. He was not well known outside of France because he was very ill from his 40s onward, and that prevented him from gaining the international recognition and career he rightfully deserved. But he was a visionary who inspired me to make some bold choices with my scientific career. The other mentor I had was the late Jeffrey M. Isner, MD, from Boston, whom I visited as a fellow in the mid-1980s and with whom I kept very strong ties with and sent some of my own fellows to when I returned to France. He was someone who inspired me to incorporate research into my clinical work and set a great example for me to emulate.
What was the defining moment that led you to your field?
Dr. Steg: In 1979, I did my first stint in the CCU as a medical student. At that time, modern cardiology was beginning, and performing an angiogram less than a week after an acute MI was considered very innovative. The textbook treatment for acute MI was described as bed rest and rehabilitation, so as a student I witnessed the emergence of game-changing therapies. The debate about thrombus being the cause of acute MI and thrombolysis being the potential cure and the rise of angioplasty was all happening around that time. Those few weeks I spent in the CCU were eye opening. It was clear to me that cardiology was a specialty where cutting-edge treatment was happening and emerging, almost on a daily basis.
What has been the greatest challenge of your professional career thus far?
Dr. Steg: Dealing with the bureaucracy is a real challenge. It is my daily Sisyphus stone. Being a physician is a great career and an incredible profession. I love working in a hospital and the team spirit of clinical care. I love seeing and interacting with patients and doing everything I can to help them, which is an absolutely exhilarating feeling. But I hate bureaucracy and meetings.
What’s up next for you?
Dr. Steg: I am currently trying to decide how I will reinvent myself for the remaining 15 years of my career. I’m not too sure where to go at this point. I am very happy right now, but I think I will need new challenges in the coming years and I still haven’t decided yet on what I want them to be. But I remain open to all possibilities.