Interview: Jiří Mayer - Pushing Things Forward

How do you remember the time of your candidacy for the position of dean? It was in the period shortly after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, and there were a total of five candidates...
Although there was talk of a crisis, what kind of crisis was it really? There was no war, no plague, no earthquake... In comparison to genuinely crisis-ridden periods, such as before World War II when my father studied medicine and schools were closing, and students were being drafted, essentially nothing was happening. At least that's how I perceived it, and those who kept asking where I would find the finances were surprised by my approach.

What did you consider to be the main challenge that needed addressing, and why do you think you were ultimately elected?
The faculty had gone through a period of conflict between the two previous deans, and it wasn't in a very good state in terms of research, Ph.D. programs, or international programs. I was probably perceived as a good crisis manager. In peaceful times, there is a tendency to choose people who can get along with others. I believe my main contribution was trying to bring calm, order, and discipline to the faculty, which essentially continues to this day. To move things forward, stability is the foundation.

When I list your achievements and merits, do you perceive them as a list of individual accomplishments, or as evidence of continuous work and the result of a certain approach or life philosophy, where one thing leads to another?
I generally like it when things move forward, and I always say that if I leave work and we haven't moved something even a millimeter – for example, if we haven't finalized a collaboration or written a small part of a grant – then I'm dissatisfied that the day wasn't well-utilized.

A significant leap forward was the OPTIMED project, which represented both content and formal systematization of the faculty's education at that time. It resulted not only in changes in individual lectures but also in entire subjects, and materialized in the eponymous online system. What prompted you to make such a fundamental shift?
There was a certain dissatisfaction with the education. Therefore, we decided on an unprecedented inventory of all subjects to ensure that individual topics would connect and intertwine. We aimed to eliminate blind alleys in education. This led to a significant refinement of the study program. During my tenure, the faculty's study program underwent reaccreditation, so we utilized insights from the OPTIMED project and transformed it. Some subjects were discontinued, new ones were introduced, we adjusted the hourly allocation for others, and at the same time, we provided recommended literature...

To what extent was the OPTIMED project the foundation for the later Simulation Center project, as stated by Professor Fasora in the publication 'Dějiny Lékařské fakulty Masarykovy univerzity' (History of the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University)?
It served as its precursor. The inventory of education showed us, among other things, where simulation-based teaching could be applied. It dictated how SIMU should look, how many square meters it should have, how many staff members, and other parameters. We couldn't just decide to start with simulations. We had to embed them in a certain context. For medical education, this is a significant undertaking because finding a curriculum that doesn't overwhelm young students and allows them room for absorbing further knowledge within their specialization wasn't easy. It's like preparing fertile ground where everything from grains to radishes to carnivorous plants can grow. Therefore, OPTIMED was the foundation on which we could build the concept of SIMU.

How do you remember the birth of SIMU itself?
I first floated the idea in 2012 at the University Wine event. At that time, we had no idea how or with what materials we would build the Simulation Center. But it's unthinkable that companies producing airplanes wouldn't also manufacture flight simulators used for training future pilots. Our students were learning about a range of often critical situations that they hadn't had the opportunity to see during their studies. Just imagine, for example, a dentist who has to drill your first tooth without having practiced it during their education...

Does today's SIMU correspond to your initial vision?
People don't talk about it much now, but originally, the name SIMU stood for the Simulation Complex of Masaryk University. We sought to involve other faculties in it because many things can be simulated. While this did happen, SIMU is predominantly associated with the Faculty of Medicine. At that time, I had the ambition for it not only to be functional but also to become a dominant feature of Brno, architecturally. Just as everyone associates the Eiffel Tower with Paris and the Statue of Liberty with New York, I wanted Brno to be symbolized by the Simulation Center. When I appointed Professor Petr Štourač (the current head of the Institute of Simulation Medicine), I sent him to top simulation centers worldwide, describing my intention to create a project that would be the best. While we couldn't fulfill the architectural plan to make it a structure against which, as the designer put it, CEITEC would look like a medieval castle, we can now say that we have the most modern medical simulation center in Europe.

In addition to SIMU, you were also involved in building CEITEC from the beginning, even before becoming the dean. How did that come about?
I was always a strong advocate in medicine for two things. The first was animal experiments, and the second was the application of molecular biology. It's almost unknown that I had a hand in the animal facility we have at the faculty, even though it was during the time of Dean Jiří Vorlíček. I approached him, stating that we couldn't make any real progress because we constantly had to rely on the Veterinary University, and he managed to push through the establishment of the animal facility. During Dean Vorlíček's tenure, molecular medicine also began to gain prominence. Originally, there was talk of the CETI project – later it turned out that the name was already registered somewhere – which involved collaboration with the Academy of Sciences but eventually took shape in collaboration with Brno University of Technology (VUT). After years of discussions, when I became the head of the Molecular Medicine program, I started to get involved in it. However, after becoming the dean, I stepped down, and my colleague, Professor Šárka Pospíšilová, took over my role and is still involved in it. As the dean, along with the then-dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor Jaromír Leichmann, we contributed to the successful completion of CEITEC. I believe that CEITEC is fulfilling its role well today.

How do you perceive that, due to your deanship and the changes initiated by you in education, the profile of graduates from the Faculty of Medicine has changed?
I don't have any statistics on that... Our education back then was like the motto 'One size fits all.' We didn't pay much attention to the truly outstanding students. That's why I came up with the idea of the P-PooL program (Pregraduate program for motivated students with extended scientific preparation), which I thought could be another attraction for applicants. I always said that if ten students from P-PooL remained at the faculty each year, in ten years, we would have a hundred talented individuals who could become lecturers or professors. It's all about people! That's why I was also very interested in personnel policy. P-PooL still exists, and we have some of its graduates at our clinic, and I can say they are talented. At that time, I tried to scientifically approach the admissions process and wanted to create a model to predict whether these individuals would become good doctors, as such an element is completely missing from the admissions process. I even invited deans from other faculties to cooperate, but unsuccessfully, so we modified the admissions process on our own, making only minor changes. However, expressing statistically how the overall quality of studies or graduates has improved wouldn't be easy. But considering the significant interest in the Faculty of Medicine in Brno – which wasn't always the case – I believe that our efforts have borne some fruit. There are many things that could be done more sophisticatedly, but not all of them find partners.

To what extent were you successful in realizing efforts to integrate preclinical and clinical studies during your tenure?
To some extent during my deanship, but what's important is that the process continues. Take, for example, Professor Ondřej Slabý, the head of the Biological Institute, who is deeply involved in the practical analysis of genetic samples from cancer patients... Associate Professor Regina Demlová also has several projects that could have potential applications in the future... Professors Marek Joukal and Aleš Hample, among others, are making significant efforts... and many others! So, yes, the process started, but I can't say it was completed by the time I left office.

Another idea you championed was the Internal Grant Agency...
... yes, Inga! However, we couldn't allocate as much money to it as we would have liked. Nevertheless, it was a supportive tool that, in a modified form, continues to exist today. We tried to offer bridging grants, grants for young researchers, postdoctoral grants, and so on. Nothing like that existed before. Similarly, during my tenure, the faculty didn't have a PR department or any promotional items we could distribute... And you see, here I still have the first faculty mug! (Points to the desk – author's note.)

You were also involved in several projects that extended beyond the faculty and the region. Could you elaborate on them?
At the faculty, we were initiators or at least very active promoters of three important initiatives, even though one of them ultimately did not materialize. Firstly, postgraduate specialization training was transferred to medical faculties. We practically wrote the agreement for the entire country. The second initiative, for which we essentially prepared the groundwork in Brno, was the State Program to Support the Education of Students at Medical Faculties to prevent the extinction of doctors. Dealing with politicians was quite challenging, so the program started shortly after my term as dean ended. Nevertheless, it was successful, and the number of students increased. The third initiative was the law on university hospitals. Despite being a sensitive issue, I think we managed to handle it well, and there was broad consensus on it. It had even reached the parliamentary discussion stage, but then the Nečas/Nagyová scandal happened, the government fell, and the subsequent government did not pursue it further. I believe it's a significant loss. Hospitals would have been brought to a similar level as universities, as public-law institutions with administrative boards. Unfortunately, this did not materialize.

Do you consider yourself, as a former dean and an alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine, a patriot of Brno or the university?
I don't want to downplay it, but life has led me to be born in Brno, study here, and I have never professionally ventured dramatically elsewhere. On the other hand, it wouldn't bother me. After the revolution, I wanted to go to Germany as a doctor, but my wife and her family didn't want to. I was on an internship in East Berlin at that time, and it would have been relatively easy to settle there. I even had a job contract. So, it's not that I necessarily had to stay in one place, but on the other hand, I spent my entire professional life here, and I think very decent medicine with international visibility can be practiced in Brno. Throughout my life, I tried to contribute to the development of the faculty, hospital, and university, so I can say that I am a patriot. Because if I didn't care, I would just be a regular doctor or maybe go half-private and only take care of myself. So, yes, I consider myself one, but without unnecessary sentimentality.

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