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UAB's Preeminent Cardiovascular Surgeon, Albert D. Pacifico, M.D., to Retire
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Posted on November 21, 2005 at 12:00 p.m. BIRMINGHAM, AL — Albert D. Pacifico, M.D., one of the world’s foremost cardiovascular surgeons, has announced his planned retirement from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on June 30, 2006. Pacifico, 65, came to UAB in 1967 as a protégé of the legendary UAB cardiac surgeon, the late John W. Kirklin, M.D. However, it did not take long for Pacifico to come into his own, devoting much of his ensuing career to studying and perfecting surgical technique — the ability to refine dexterity and eliminate wasted motion. Fellow practitioners and patients alike speak with admiration of Pacifico’s stamina, discipline, exceptional skill and efficiency in the operating room, where he often averages an extraordinary eight cases a day, or some 1,200 procedures a year. His widely recognized surgical expertise in repairing congenital cardiovascular disorders, in adult cardiac surgery, and in complex surgery involving the heart and great vessels, has drawn many thousands of children and adults to UAB and Children’s Hospital over the years to receive his care. “Our school has always been fortunate to benefit from some of the most talented, dedicated men and women in academic medicine,” said Robert R. Rich, M.D., senior vice president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “As Albert Pacifico’s many grateful patients and students can attest, he has attained lasting prominence among this very special group of gifted individuals.” “Dr. Pacifico has made extraordinary contributions to medical science in the management of complex adult and pediatric cardiovascular diseases,” said Kirby I. Bland, M.D., professor and chairman of the UAB Department of Surgery. “He will be sorely missed by myself as a friend, colleague and adviser to the Department and to the mission for management of cardiovascular diseases at UAB Hospital.” Pacifico’s prowess in the operating room has enabled him to compress the duration of some first-time, complex cardiac procedures from as much as 10 hours to under 2 hours and 30 minutes — with trimmed operating times enabling faster returns to normal lives for patients, shorter convalescences and reduced hospital stays. “But I don’t hurry,” he once told a reporter. “No surgeon should hurry. Efficiency just allows me to get more done in the same amount of time, to hit the ‘bull’s eye,’ as it were, adjusting midstream, if necessary, to deal with unforeseen events.” Pacifico joined the UAB faculty in 1970. After successive promotions, in 1983 he was named the John W. Kirklin Professor of Surgery. The following year, he became director of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. Today, he also serves as vice chairman of the Department of Surgery.Recipient of numerous honors and awards, Pacifico in 1999 was named the 36th UAB faculty member to receive the Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, the UAB Academic Health Center’s highest honor. He is consistently listed by the Best Doctors in America organization, and has been rated among the top physicians in America by U.S. News & World Report. Born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a businessman, Pacifico received his B.S. degree from St. John's University, Jamaica, New York, before entering the New Jersey College of Medicine, in Newark. After receiving his M.D. and completing his internship in New Jersey, he went to the Mayo Clinic, where he was an assistant resident in surgery under Kirklin. When Kirklin came to UAB in 1966, Pacifico followed, progressing from assistant resident in surgery, to senior resident, and, in 1969-1970, to chief resident. During this period, a major concentration of his studies was on the pathophysiology of heart failure during and after cardiac surgery. Pacifico has authored more than 200 publications in the field of cardiac surgery, including many book chapters. He serves on the editorial boards of a variety of journals, including the American Journal of Cardiology, the Journal of Cardiac Surgery, and Progress in Pediatric Cardiology, and is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the International College of Pediatrics, and the American Surgical Association, among other professional societies. For more than 35 years, Pacifico’s skill at relentlessly “hitting the bull’s eye” in complex cardiovascular surgeries has earned tremendous confidence from patients and family members. In a story in The Birmingham News in 2001, a 7 year old was asked whether he was scared to undergo a forthcoming surgery with Pacifico. “Afraid? I’m a boy. I’m not afraid,” he answered. The boy’s dad put it another way: “Why worry? We have Dr. Pacifico.” Note to reporters: Downloadable photos and statements from Drs. Pacifico and Bland are available on the above Web site. Dr. Kirby Bland Chairman of the UAB Department of Surgery, Comments on Dr. Albert Pacifico's Planned Retirement Dr. Albert Pacifico's Comments on His Planned Retirement Downloadable ImagesTo save images from your browser window, follow these directions:
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