ROBERTO ATTILIO LIMA SANTIN: Sounds of a beautiful story

Dr. Roberto Santili

There is a poetic parallel between Brazilian orthopedics and music in the world. In the mid-1960s, rock became popular and, to improve individual performances, bands emerged in groups of four or five young musicians. They formed brilliant quartets, like the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival, or amazing quintets, such as the Rolling Stones. As in music, this renovation occurred in several areas of knowledge, and Brazilian orthopedics witnessed the formation of several centers of excellence. At the Santa Casa de São Paulo, a group of recently arrived young doctors packed themselves with modern concepts and believed in the reformations proposed by the competent talent scout José Soares Hungria Filho.

With enviable serendipity, Prof. Hungria established the “full-time” workload, terminating the comfort zone for most of the oldest staff and injecting new blood into the Pavilhão. Under a new philosophy and with great enthusiasm, a fantastic quartet of young, hard-working, talented professionals emerged: Andrea Sérgio Aristide Rudelli, Elio Consentino, José Carlos Lopes Prado, and Roberto Attilio Lima Santin. Coming from various parts of the state of São Paulo, they stood out in the beginnings of the Faculdade de Ciências Médicas of the Santa Casa de São Paulo. They conquered space and respectability, first in Brazilian orthopedics, and then around the world, under the name Pavilhão.

As in an orchestra ready to perform, in which scores had been distributed, each one of these young doctors was prepared to play. They had different styles but only one goal: the scientific growth of the Service.

Prof. Santin stood out with his expertise initially focused on foot disorders; at the same time, he was a pioneer in the surgical approach to the pelvis and acetabulum due to his surgical dexterity. Among other achievements, he was a founder and president of the Sociedade Brasileira de Fixadores Externos (Brazilian Society of External Fixation Devices).

As president of the regional office from Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia e Traumatologia in São Paulo (SBOT-SP, in the Portuguese acronym), Prof. Santin created successful itinerant courses in the subregions of the state. As president of the national SBOT, he joined his deputy Gilberto Caície in an altruistic, unpretentious way to establish the SBOT headquarters in Rua Lorena, with great political-administrative merit.

He was as skilled in surgery as in dealing with colleagues. Elegant, he could easily teach how to operate and brought people together.

Ethical and well-prepared, he was happy to teach and knew exactly how to potentiate and leverage young professionals' talents. Both in his private life and in his orthopedics practice, Prof. Santin was socially skillful, with a remarkable aggregating style.

He was a true orthopedics ambassador at the Pavilhão Fernandinho Simonsen due to his contacts inside and outside the institution. Prof. Santin added a lot of value to the concept of the Pavilhão!

In his honorable career, Prof. Santin composed the music of his lifetime with diplomacy and elegance. His score was written in the inflexible letter of orthopedic medical knowledge and his surgical ability. His harmony, light and free, was lavished humbly upon teaching and dealing with people.

Goodbye, Commendatory Santin!

From your colleagues and friends from Pavilhão Fernandinho Simonsen!

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
31 August 2020