(JP/Setiono Sugiharto)

Life could have been financially more promising for Antono Sutandar had he decided to settle with his family in Singapore in 2002. He had been offered a prestigious position as a tenured consultant of cardiology at the National University Hospital Singapore and at the same time as a cardiologist in Tan Tock Seng, the third largest hospital in Singapore.

Antono did accept the offers, but only worked part-time in these hospitals until 2005. He then worked at Raffles Hospital for five years, while keeping an eye out for a similar position in Indonesia.

Although now still practicing at Raffles, Antono dedicates most of his time to Jakarta and has no intention of settling in the neighboring city state. The reason he gives is that he does not want to spend his entire life living overseas. Instead, he has a desire to learn from experienced cardiologists in Singapore and impart his specialized knowledge in his home country, Indonesia.

'€œI want to establish a team of cardiologists with different specializations'€, he said in a recent interview.

His motive for practicing in Singapore is not for financial gain, but rather experience. He can also learn invaluable lessons from the vast majority of affluent Indonesians that prefer to be treated in Singapore.

Antono hatched the idea of establishing a group-model practice team because he wanted to combine what he had experienced during his studies in the US and Europe as well as his practices in Singaporean hospitals.

Although initially facing great challenges in realizing this dream, Antono managed to establish the Siloam Heart Institute. Its mission is to provide people with an international-quality service and to raise awareness of heart-related diseases.

Under his supervision, the institute has successfully implemented a program that helps reduce mitral valve clipping, which causes a leak in the heart and other heart rhythmic disorders, which can cause severe strokes and paralysis.

While acknowledging the fact that there are vast numbers of qualified cardiologists practicing in Indonesia, Antono feels upbeat that the collaboration among cardiologists with different sub-specializations in a solid team can help synchronize the treatment and management of patients.

'€œThe group model, if managed professionally, will have a significant impact on the treatment of patients. Moreover, the growth of this group model can be transformed into a system used for recruiting young cardiologists'€, the father of two said.

Antono began to attract attention from several Singaporean hospitals when, as a graduate student, he spoke at various international symposiums on cardiovascular disease.

Graduating from Katholieke Universitet Leuven, Belgium, in 1990 a magna-cum-laude, majoring in internal medicine, Antono then pursued his study at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, specializating in cardiology. But to quench his thirst for knowledge he took specializations at Columbia University'€™s College of Physicians and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, majoring respectively in electrophysiology and interventional cardiology.

Among his assistants and young cardiologists, Antono is known as a low-profile character that is willing to share his knowledge. He ensures that are well-informed and able to answer queries from patients about their diseases.

'€œAssistants aren'€™t supposed to do administrative matters only, but they need to be equipped with basic and simple knowledge about cardiology and medication and be able to explain cardio-related disorders, so that patients are more compliant'€.

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