Francesco Rubino: formerly reluctant bariatric surgeon

Abstract

“When I was choosing a specialty, one thing I knew for sure was that I did not want to be a bariatric surgeon”, says Francesco Rubino. In 2013, Rubino became the first professor of metabolic and bariatric surgery in the world and is now Chair of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at King's College London. As a student, Rubino wasn't even excited about surgery: “I thought that all the discoveries in surgery had been made”, he says. But in the end he chose to pursue surgery because of his desire for a strong doctor–patient relationship. Still, bariatric surgery was not on his radar for many years because, like most clinicians then, he saw obesity as a lifestyle choice: “I thought perhaps I would do cancer surgery”, he muses. “I thought that I should instead treat people who had done nothing wrong and became ill”, he explains. However, his opinion has changed greatly over the years, and he is now heavily involved in reducing the stigma of obesity.