Get to Know ... Katrin Rabiei
Katrin Rabiei, from the Neurosurgical Department
of Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg,
Sweden, is the winner of this year's Aesculap EANS
Research Prize (Best Clinical Paper).
~Holiday: beach / countryside / culture / other?
All of it! But mostly beach, diving and hiking.
~What book is on your bedside table (or Kindle) at
the moment?
'Complications' by Atul Gawande and 'The
General in His Labyrinth' by Garcia Marquez.
~Meet one person – dead or alive – who and why?
Stephen Hawking. He’s just an absolute genius and the most remarkable person. He also
has genuine insight into life’s difficulties and triumphing and succeeding despite all
obstacles.
~Your first car?
Aston Martin (but I haven’t bought it yet! ;))
~List your favorites – pick a few from: book, movie or play, quote, poem, website, city, type
of food or individual dish, music genre, song, band or individual musician, board game:
Book: 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
Movie: Le Grand Bleu
Play: Classic operas like Aida and Lakmé
Quote: "Imagination is more important than knowledge" – Albert Einstein,
Poem: 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley
City: Sydney
Food: Michelin-starred restaurants
A place for total serenity: Cape of Good Hope and the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro
~Favourite game / hobby as a child and why?
Playing in my grandmother’s garden and doing various experiments together with my
brother.
~Where did you grow up?
In Tehran, Iran until 13 and from 13 in Sweden.
~Neurosurgical inspiration?
Prof Helena Brisby and Prof Ann-Christine Duhaime who are not only excellent surgeons
but also highly acclaimed scientists and extremely smart. Dr Michael Rymond who is both
dedicated and humble, putting his patients’ needs first, and who is always up to date with
the evidence and questions it in a relevant way.
~Your hero?
My mum, who has been a brave woman breaking barriers.
~“If I knew then what I know now” – advice for today’s neurosurgical trainees?
Enjoy life! Travel and experience new things and meet new people!
Don’t let others' negativity and issues get to you.
Put your patients first, read up but keep an open mind. Sometimes our decision
making base is not as solid as we think.
Stay curious! We have a lot of unanswered questions in neurosurgery!
~If you hadn’t been a neurosurgeon …?
I would be an astrophysicist or space engineer.
~Who should do neurosurgery?
Anyone who has a genuine interest and passion for the field. We also need people who are
curious and can lead studies in neurosurgery as we need good science more than ever.
Women in neurosurgery are still scarce, their achievements are often unrecognized and
not as highly evaluated as their male counterparts. Women have a tough time in many
departments and some ultimately quit neurosurgery for these reasons. We should all
strive for a future where gender is not an obstacle to anyone to pursue their passion.
~Future of neurosurgery?
Neurosurgery is a highly technical field and will develop further with advances in
technology. It is important to evaluate what we do through research and further
development of quality registers within Europe. We need more collaboration within the
field with multicentre and randomized controlled trials.