Professor Pedro de Alcantara
Prof. Pedro de Alcantara Marcondes Machado was a famous pediatrician in São Paulo. He was one of the founders of my Medical School, the Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM).
My father was also one of the founders of EPM and they were very good friends. I met Prof. Alcantara when I was in my second year of medical school, on a day that he was invited to have lunch with my parents, in our home. A few years later he became my professor. I believe that our class was the last one that he lectured at EPM.
He was Professor of Pediatrics at the São Paulo Faculty of Hygiene, at EPM and at the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine. He published many books, wrote many papers, contributed enormously to change many concepts in pediatrics and puericulture. As it happens with all pioneers, he often had to fight vigorously for his ideas, that are now part of the everyday practice of pediatricians.
But besides being a great scientist, he was a great human being, and very friendly. During his lectures he often added funny comments that we enjoyed very much, because they made the lectures lighter and improved our attention.
I remember him saying that he was convinced that turned up noses in children were not genetic; they were caused by tight shirts. He often observed that mothers in his office had great difficulty in removing the children’s shirts or blouses, and during these difficult maneuvers the nose was really pulled up for a long period of time.
One day he told us what a fantastic thing was the button. It almost magically links two pieces of cloth. Of course, it has some requisites: its surface must be smooth and the case must be slightly larger than the button.
“But manufacturer’s of children’s clothes,” he said, “often overlook these principles. Yesterday I saw a child with a knitted woolen garment and the buttons were shaped like small turtles. Very beautiful. But you can imagine what happened when I asked the mother to remove the garment. First she had to disentangle the turtle’s head from the wool; then the left front leg; then the right front leg; then the left rear leg; then the right rear leg; then the turtle’s tail. That took care of the first button. There were five more.”
But my favorite story was told me by my father, who had a phone call from a friend who was very concerned about the health of a grandson. So my father advised her to take the child to São Paulo for a consultation with Professor Alcantara. And so she did. She was a very stiff lady, a member of a traditional Campinas old family.
A week later she called my father again. “Dr. Mangabeira, I followed your advice and took my grandson to see Dr. Alcantara. He cured my grandson, but he was very impolite.”
To my father this sounded very strange. Prof. Alcantara was a very gentle person. So he asked what had happened.
“Well, as I told you, I was very concerned with my grandson’s health. And as Dr. Alcantara was examining him I remembered some details of his problems, that I felt were important to add. So I interrupted him four or five times. And then he asked me if I knew the song of the Vaca Amarela.”
Vaca Amarela (Yellow Cow) is an old traditional Brazilian song. After someone sings this song everybody is supposed to remain very quiet, not to utter a single word. Or...
The text of the song says:
Vaca amarela cagou na panela, quem falar come tudo dela.
Which translates like this: “The yellow cow shitted in a pan, anyone that speaks will have to eat all of her shit.”
Then the lady added. “But then I suddenly remembered something that could be important, and so I interrupted him again. He stopped examining my grandson, pointed his finger at me and said: ‘You ate it all!’ ”
One other of his sayings, regarding emergencies in pediatrics. “You have to hurry. Children do not wait. They heal themselves.”
My father was also one of the founders of EPM and they were very good friends. I met Prof. Alcantara when I was in my second year of medical school, on a day that he was invited to have lunch with my parents, in our home. A few years later he became my professor. I believe that our class was the last one that he lectured at EPM.
He was Professor of Pediatrics at the São Paulo Faculty of Hygiene, at EPM and at the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine. He published many books, wrote many papers, contributed enormously to change many concepts in pediatrics and puericulture. As it happens with all pioneers, he often had to fight vigorously for his ideas, that are now part of the everyday practice of pediatricians.
But besides being a great scientist, he was a great human being, and very friendly. During his lectures he often added funny comments that we enjoyed very much, because they made the lectures lighter and improved our attention.
I remember him saying that he was convinced that turned up noses in children were not genetic; they were caused by tight shirts. He often observed that mothers in his office had great difficulty in removing the children’s shirts or blouses, and during these difficult maneuvers the nose was really pulled up for a long period of time.
One day he told us what a fantastic thing was the button. It almost magically links two pieces of cloth. Of course, it has some requisites: its surface must be smooth and the case must be slightly larger than the button.
“But manufacturer’s of children’s clothes,” he said, “often overlook these principles. Yesterday I saw a child with a knitted woolen garment and the buttons were shaped like small turtles. Very beautiful. But you can imagine what happened when I asked the mother to remove the garment. First she had to disentangle the turtle’s head from the wool; then the left front leg; then the right front leg; then the left rear leg; then the right rear leg; then the turtle’s tail. That took care of the first button. There were five more.”
But my favorite story was told me by my father, who had a phone call from a friend who was very concerned about the health of a grandson. So my father advised her to take the child to São Paulo for a consultation with Professor Alcantara. And so she did. She was a very stiff lady, a member of a traditional Campinas old family.
A week later she called my father again. “Dr. Mangabeira, I followed your advice and took my grandson to see Dr. Alcantara. He cured my grandson, but he was very impolite.”
To my father this sounded very strange. Prof. Alcantara was a very gentle person. So he asked what had happened.
“Well, as I told you, I was very concerned with my grandson’s health. And as Dr. Alcantara was examining him I remembered some details of his problems, that I felt were important to add. So I interrupted him four or five times. And then he asked me if I knew the song of the Vaca Amarela.”
Vaca Amarela (Yellow Cow) is an old traditional Brazilian song. After someone sings this song everybody is supposed to remain very quiet, not to utter a single word. Or...
The text of the song says:
Vaca amarela cagou na panela, quem falar come tudo dela.
Which translates like this: “The yellow cow shitted in a pan, anyone that speaks will have to eat all of her shit.”
Then the lady added. “But then I suddenly remembered something that could be important, and so I interrupted him again. He stopped examining my grandson, pointed his finger at me and said: ‘You ate it all!’ ”
One other of his sayings, regarding emergencies in pediatrics. “You have to hurry. Children do not wait. They heal themselves.”
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