Pablo Acosta Ortiz

Pablo Acosta Ortiz Revete (1864–1914) was a Venezuelan medical doctor, academic, surgeon, politician and college professor known as the magician of the scalpel and considered the founder of modern surgery in Venezuela. He attended the 4th and 5th Pan American Sanitary Conferences as a representative of Venezuela.

Early life and education
Ortiz was born in Barquisimeto on March 21, 1864. Son of Pablo Acosta Revete and Benigna Ortiz Aguero, 2 months after his birth he moved to Caracas; at age 16 he began to study medicine and at 21 he earned the title of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from the Central University of Venezuela. Later, he settled in Mérida where he practiced his profession for a few months. The following year he traveled to Paris to continue his medical studies. There he was a disciple of the famous French surgeon Le Dentu.

Career
In 1892, he obtained the title of surgeon at the University of Paris and returned to Venezuela to practice as a doctor at the Vargas Hospital in Caracas. He was also a professor of descriptive anatomy at the Central University, his students expressed: “he handles the scalpel like a great artist”. Between 1893 and 1895, he was editor of the 'Surgery' section of the Caracas Medical Gazette and co-founder (1893) and president (1894) of the Society of Physicians and Surgeons of Caracas. Appointed head of Surgery Services at the Vargas Hospital (1895), he founded the Chair of Surgical Clinic at the Central University. Between 1899 and 1907, he was the director of the Vargas hospital on 3 occasions, as well as being a member (1899) and vice president (1904) of the Administrative Board of the Civil Hospitals of the Federal District. He is also co-founder of the College of Physicians of Venezuela and president of its preparatory commission (1902). In 1904 and 1907, he was appointed professor of the chair of Anatomy at the UCV. He was a founding member of the National Academy of Medicine (1904), president of the National Public Hygiene Commission, senator for the state of Lara (1910) and president of the National Academy of Medicine (1912-1914).

He is the author of two books: Du treatment surgical des aneurismes du tronc brachio-céphalique et de la crosse de l'aorte (1892) and Lecciones de clínica surgical (1911), as well as numerous articles on scientific and literary subjects.

Dr. Acosta-Ortiz traveled to Paris where he died of bronchopneumonia on February 13, 1914. He was 50 years old.

Political career
In 1897, he was a deputy to the Congress of the Republic of Venezuela for the state of Bermúdez (now Anzoátegui, Sucre and Monagas) (1877) and Barcelona (1899). In 1904 he was vice-president of the administrative board of the civil hospitals of the Federal District, and in 1908, he was vice-rector of the UCV. Between 1908 and 1909, he was a councilor for the Federal District and the following year he represented the state of Lara as a senator. His name is among the 35 founders of the National Academy of Medicine: he held the XXII chair since 1904 and presided over the body from 1912 to 1914.

Little is known about his parliamentary work, but according to Silva Falcón's yearbook, Acosta Ortiz was a deputy and senator in Congress, a representative of Venezuela at the International Conferences in Costa Rica and Chile, the International Congress of Mexico, and a member of the International Sanitary Committee of Washington. A controversial man, according to the aforementioned yearbook, he defended his ideas with a solid literary style in scientific magazines and newspapers of the time, where he published numerous articles on scientific and literary topics based on his experience.

Legacy

 * The contributions revolutionized the surgery of the time. A pioneer in multiple surgical procedures, he was called 'the magician of the scalpel' by his contemporaries and excelled in vascular interventions, especially those of the neck, and in the surgical treatment of liver abscesses. He left more than 20 published works, among which his book Lectures on Surgical Clinic, published in 1911, stands out.
 * recognized as one of the first to perform surgical acts in VenezuelaPedesta del Doctor Pablo Acosta Ortiz.jpg
 * He traveled to Paris in 1887 culminating his preparation with honors in November 1892, he presented the doctoral thesis: 'The surgical treatment of aneurysms of the brachiocephalic trunk and of the aortic arch'; research that is still held as a reference bibliography in several countries.
 * He taught in the Department of Anatomy at the U.C.V for two years; where he founded on his own initiative the Chair of Surgical Clinic in 1895, there he applied the latest knowledge acquired in France, very useful in the preparation of future surgeons.
 * His preparation and ability as a surgeon at the Hospital Vargas in Caracas from 1890 to 1900, when few surgical interventions were performed in the country, outlines him, along with Luis Razetti, among the best surgeons of the time.
 * Between 1893 and 1895, he was editor of the 'Surgery' section of the Caracas Medical Gazette, he was co-founder in 1893 and President the following year of the Society of Physicians and Surgeons of Caracas.
 * Appointed head of Surgery Services at the Vargas Hospital in 1895. Together with Dr. Santos Dominici, Caracas on April 1, 1895, it is the first scientific research institute to function as such, since it had: teaching, research and production of vaccines for the community; there they produced the vaccines against Diphtheria, Rabies and Smallpox.
 * He co-founded the College of Physicians of Venezuela and was a founding member of the Illustrious National Academy of Medicine in 1904, corresponding to the XXII Chair.

Merits

 * On April 1, 1895, he participated in the founding of the Pasteur Institute in Caracas.
 * He was a founding member of the College of Physicians of Venezuela (1902), a precursor institution of the National Academy of Medicine.
 * He chaired the Public Hygiene Commission of the Venezuelan State in 1909.



Honors

 * In his honor several institutes bear his distinguished name; in Caracas a high school, as well as in San Fernando de Apure the main hospital; the Dean of Health Sciences of the Lisandro Alvarado de Barquisimeto Central-Western University
 * Likewise, bronzes that eternalize his memory are found in a square in Barquisimeto, in the Vargas Hospital in Caracas and in the Hall of Fame of the International College of Surgeons (surgeons) in Chicago.
 * Dean of Health Sciences Dr. Pablo Acosta Ortiz of the Lisandro Alvarado Center-Western University of Barquisimeto (Lara state).
 * Pablo Acosta Ortiz Square.
 * Pablo Acosta Ortiz Street.
 * Acosta Ortiz Clinic in Barquisimeto (Lara state).
 * Dr. Pablo Acosta Ortiz Hospital in San Fernando de Apure (Apure state).
 * Pablo Acosta Ortiz High School. Paradise (Caracas).
 * Bust in the International College of Surgeons (ICS) Hall of Fame. Chicago (United States).