Kamran Paknegad, is 60 years old and was born in Iran – «But I always prefer to call it Persia», he repeats several times. He has lived in Italy since 1979 and has been an Italian citizen for the past 32 years. He became Chief of Cardiology at the Nomentana Hospital in Rome 15 years ago. He teaches at the University La Sapienza in Rome and he is the Secretary General of Amsi (Italian Foreign Medics Association). He swears he has never been tempted to go to work abroad even though he has had plenty of opportunities: «I am not a mercenary. I didn’t choose to become a doctor to get rich. I graduated in Italy. Training a doctor costs the State 250 thousand euro. This is why the Government should allow foreign-born doctors to work in the public sector even though they do not have Italian citizenship. We urgently need to fill all vacancies in the national health system, a dangerously ailing sector. Foreign-born doctors are available and ready to work. They are no different to Italian doctors. Doctors are always doctors. Italian and foreign-born doctors are exactly the same».
When did you arrive in Italy, Dr. Paknegad?
«In 1979. I was 20 years old. I come from a well-off family. I had a cousin who was living in Germany and he told me universities in Europe were good. He said I could get a degree in Europe and then go back to Persia to start my career. But that year Khomeini got in power and the atmosphere in the country changed. I had some other relatives in Ferrara so I decided to come to Italy on a student visa».
Where did you get your degree?
«I first enrolled at the university for foreigners in Perugia where I took my Italian language test and the entrance exam for medicine. I could choose between Bologna, Rome and Ferrara. I had to wait ten months because of a bureaucratic hitch but then I enrolled at the Sapienza University in Rome. I graduated in Medicine with top marks and I then took a specialisation in cardiology».
Tough times, alone in Rome…
«My parents could not send me money. So, I worked as a cook, washing dishes, I sold newspapers. I used to wake up at 3.00am and I would go to university after I finished my paper round. Then, I worked in a small factory that produced fire extinguishers. I used the money to pay for the rent and buy food. Then, in my sixth year I was awarded a scholarship. I’ll never forget that day. I got 700,000 lira a month. It was a real bounty for me».
From then onwards your career really took off…
«I met Dr.Reale in the Cardiology department. He was internationally renowned and he understood my potential so I entered the internal recruitment process. I used to work in a telemedicine centre where we did ECGs. I finished my specialisation course in 1993 and I kept on working at the Umberto I polyclinic. I worked 12 hour shifts in the intensive care unit and we often had to skip our meals. I also worked in a private clinic three or four times a week. For the past 15 years, I have been Chief of Cardiology at the Nomentana Hospital in Rome and I am also an associate professor at La Sapienza».
Although it’s been hard, it seems your career path was more straightforward than the those of other foreign-born doctors wanting to work in Italy.
I have been an Italian citizen for the past 32 years. I was fortunate enough to have arrived in Italy very early. This enabled me to join the Medical Association. All in all, I’ve lived in this country for 40 years. I feel completely Italian.
You’ve never had a problem?
«I have been in Italy for many years. I come from a highly educated family. I’ve never had any trouble fitting in».
As an Italian citizen, if you wanted to, you could participate in the recruitment process for public sector jobs. Many of your foreign-born colleagues cannot, simply because they don’t have Italian citizenship.
A law that makes foreign-born doctors ineligible for public sector jobs is unacceptable. We are very skilled doctors. We cannot be paid 7 euro an hour in some private clinics just because we are foreign. It is even less than what a cleaner gets paid. Many Italian doctors go abroad because they are treated better and they are better paid. «In Italy we are short of 8 thousand doctors.
At times, we can’t even cover all shifts due to these staff shortages. I work night shifts but I don’t complain. If you don’t like it you can’t be a doctor. It isn’t like any other job. Doctors should be judged on their qualifications and professionalism, not on their citizenship status. There are two Egyptian doctors in my team and they are excellent».
Some Italian regions are taking measures to address the shortage of doctors.
«Yes, I have read that in Veneto, Lombardy and Lazio they are using private recruitment agencies to fill the vacancies. If we have doctors, then let’s recruit them. We are not second class doctors. We are fluent in Italian, we have good patient-doctor relations».
Many of your foreign-born medical colleagues accuse your Medical Association of having made things harder for them.
«I am a member of three committees of the Medical Association. It is true the Association protected their own when there were too many doctors and too few jobs. But the main issue has been political. Politicians must intervene when we are short of so many doctors. You can’t expect a doctor to work 12 or 13 hour shifts because there is no one to replace them. You lose perspective, the quality of your work suffers. This is not a job like any other».
Has being a foreigner ever affected the way Italian patients viewed you?
No one ever told me they would have preferred to be treated by a blonde, blue-eyed doctor. But, 30 years ago foreigners and doctors were treated with far more respect.
«I work three days a week in a private surgery. I see about 140 to 150 patients. This job works through word of mouth: people see you are able and good. You can’t simply place an advert».
Given the challenges, have you ever considered going to work abroad?
«I speak English and French as well as Italian and Farsi, the language we speak in my country. I could have gone to Saudi Arabia, where many Italian doctors are moving to. You can earn as much as 14 or 15 thousand dollars a month there as a cardiac surgeon. Plus a company car, accommodation and so on…. But I’m not a mercenary. I don’t do this job to get rich. Moreover, I don’t think it’s right for a doctor who trained and got their specialisation in Italy – at a cost of 250 thousand euros to the State – to go and work abroad».
Is your family Italian?
«My wife is from Lecce. We met in my second year at university. We graduated on the same day. She is a nephrologist. We have two daughters. One has a degree in Psychology and the other is reading law at university».
Have you passed your cultural origins on to your daughters?
«I am an Italian father. I never tried to impose my culture. My daughters were baptized Christian. They only speak a few words of Farsi. Just enough to communicate on the telephone with my mother who is still living in Persia and who comes to visit us every so often with my siblings. Although I haven’t been back for 40 years, I always think about my country. I hope to be able to go back there some day and be helpful to my fellow countrymen. You cannot erase your roots».
(Traduzione a cura di Costanza de Toma)
