Besides the gorgeous places it is possessed of, Bucharest stands out also on account of the wonderful people contributing daily to the development of this city. Some of them where born here, but many came from other places in the country and devoted their work in the service of the locality which adopted them. And they have come to build their life in the capital of Romania, the place where they feel at home now.
Today our heroine is Dr. Sanda Luminiţa Mihai, primary care physician in pediatric neurology and psychiatry, doctor in sociology and coordinating physician of the Day Stay Unit within „Dr. Constantin Gorgos” Psychiatric Hospital – Titan.
She Came From the Northern Part of the Country, from Maramureş
Her calm manner of speaking and her accent betrays her origin, and when I ask her where is she from, she tells me, smiling, with no hesitation: „Come on now…you don’t expect me to lose it completely, do you? (n /ed: the accent)…I am not from Bucharest. I am from the Northern part of the country, from Maramureș. I worked as a physician in many boondocks of the Fatherland, and for 20 years now I have devoted myself to the service of Bucharest.”
Dr. Sanda Luminiţa Mihai originates from a family in which medicine was a tradition. Her father was a physician, her brother followed that occupation and it wasn’t possible that only herself would embrace another career.
Even now she recalls the evening times in the past, when, as a teenager, she would sit in the courtyard of the house in Baia Mare, where alongside her family there lived other physicians’ families, and she assisted in an awe to the talks of the adults debating medical cases, talking about diagnoses or treatments.
Life in such an environment led her, naturally, to the entrance exam into the Medical School, and her connection to Bucharest was made ever since her student years at the “Carol Davila” Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy (the present-day University of Medicine and Pharmacy).
Even though her father didn’t agree with her following this path, in 1981 she graduated from the Faculty of Pediatrics. „I am a pediatrician in the real sense of the word. My father, himself a pediatrician, didn’t want me to go this way since it is a very difficult one. But, as any other teenager, who, when told a NO, does exactly the opposite, I took the entrance exam in Bucharest and I was admitted among the first ones,” proudly says Dr. Luminița Mihai.
She acquired her degree during an extremely difficult period, since she belonged to the generation which for eight years was not allowed to take the secondary exams. „In Ceaușescu’s era, the decision was made that first, one needed to become a primary doctor, and only afterwards was allowed to take the secondary exams. And for as many as eight years no one in the country could take exams in order to become a specialist. Because of that, I was forced to take very many jobs, beginning with a dispensary, all the way to a medical office in a school, to the Emergency Room, etc.,” recounts the physician.
Experience helped her to be formed and to reach the level she is at today, each lesson she learned contributing to her development as a human being and as a professional. „I started out from scratch. I worked in cottages occupied by ethnic Romani, in which I didn’t dare to enter by myself. It was far too risky, so I was always accompanied by the wife of their headman. I worked in the neighborhood of ethnic Romani in Baia Mare. And there, only with the help of the headman’s wife, I was able to identify the children with between zero and one year of age, children gone missing through the neighborhood. I worked in medical offices in schools, taking care of 5.000 children in three High Schools and one Primary School. I worked as a physician in international camps, where it is known that the regime was very stern. There were very strict rules in order to avoid food poisoning. This period helped me very much because of the fact that I learned a lot from the epidemiologists in Cluj, who used to come and check our work in Baia Mare”, recalls Dr. Luminița Mihai.
She Discovered the Problems of the Teenagers
All these steps she took in her career allowed her to see what was going on in schools and in particular allowed her to discover many of the teenagers’ problems. „I love the teenagers and I devoted to them my work and my career. I can say that, by my working a lot in the Emergency Room within the County Hospital, which meant 120 examinations on a Sunday, supposedly a „quiet” day, I concluded that teenagers are wonderful”, underscores the physician.
Starting from her desire to meet the needs of the teenagers, Dr. Luminița Mihai decided, when she received the right to take the secondary exam, on September 3rd, 1990, to opt out for the University Clinic. That’s how she got to Socola Iași, which at the time was the only Clinic accredited by WHO (World Heath Organization).
„My intention was to return to Baia Mare, since it was said that if you were in a high-level Clinic, you did not need to enter a contest in order to get into a low-level one. But in Iaşi I realized that there was no Pediatric Psychiatry Professor, so I came to Bucharest, where I had graduated from the Faculty and where I hoped to acquire the guidance I needed. I came to the Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Psychiatric Clinical Hospital, where I can say there was a great opening; at that time there were many personalities coming to Bucharest to offer assistance. At the Obregia Hospital, alongside Doctor Constantin Oancea, about whom I can say he is my mentor, I succeed to see what does it mean approaching a teenager from the psychotherapeutic perspective”, spells out the physician.
It was clear that her journey would continue in Bucharest, so in 1995 she needed to participate in a contest in order to be able to get transferred from Iași to Bucharest and to acquire a position in the capital. „So, I participated in a contest to come to Bucharest, and I did that in two places. I took the exam here (n/ed: „Dr. Constantin Gorgos” Psychiatric Hospital – Titan), which at that time was called The Titan Polyclinic – The Mental Health Center, and I also took the exam at the University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Sociology and Social Welfare. I obtained both positions, so for more than 20 years I’ve been working alternatively both at the University and in the Hospital”, continues Dr. Mihai.
The contact with her colleagues at the University in Bucharest opened her horizon to a less exploited area in Romania at the time: international financing being able to contribute to the development of a number of projects of a major social impact. This way, she succeeded to acquire access to funding who allowed her to start the first Teen Center in Bucharest.
Actually, it is the first Teen Center in the country. „I loved to work at this project, and Dr. Constantin Gorgos allowed me to do everything as I myself planned it. Actually, the way I thought it out, that way I managed to build it up. Even though it was thought out for teenagers with suicidal attempts, after I opened it, it became a facility for the drug-consuming teenagers. We were the only Center in the country and we were working with teenagers with extremely serious problems. It is pleasant to initiate such a construction, it’s not easy, but I worked wholeheartedly, since I have been always thoughtful about teenagers with problems. This Center was the first one in the country because it is the idea thought out by me along with Doctor Oancea, ever since the time of my last year of internship,” underscores Dr. Luminița Mihai.
The Physician admits it wasn’t easy for her, especially since she is not originally from Bucharest and the first eight years of her occupation, she spent in Baia Mare. As she came from outside Bucharest, she needed to struggle a lot so that the Medical community in the capital would know and support her. She was fortunate though to find an environment which was not hostile to her and which helped her to develop her heartfelt project. „If things work out, everyone finds out about you. What is beautiful is that all the children in Capital District 3 came to know me. Some would greet me; others would avoid me. But it was very good and I do believe that through what I achieved, I have contributed at least a little bit to the welfare of this city which adopted me,” continues Dr. Luminița Mihai.
The story of this Doctor leaving her birthplace and moving over to Bucharest where she developed so many wonderful projects, comes to highlight the fact that the largest city of the country is an open one, a place anyone can adjust to. Furthermore, the capital of Romania proves to be very friendly, being the perfect destination for the one who made it his / her object to succeed. It is clear that in Bucharest the chances of a successful career are very high, no matter the realm of your activity.
Author: Ștefania Enache
Photo: Corina Gheorghe
