Professor Paulo Norberto Discher De Sá (1939-2022)

Professor Paulo Norberto Discher de Sá ([Figure 1]) was born in October 11th, 1939, in Lages, a small city in the highlands of Santa Catarina State, Brazil. When he was still young his family moved to the coastal city of Florianópolis, State’s capital. The interest in Medicine came from reading Ambroise Paré and William Osler biographies and Cronin’s Citadel in childhood. Professor Sá studied Medicine at the Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, from 1958 to 1963, becoming a disciple of Professor Lysandro de Santos Lima, a well-known inspiring clinician. Between 1964 and 1965 he studied Neurology at the Guanabara State Public Servers Hospital, an important centre on Neurology training in Rio de Janeiro[1],[2],[3]. Back to Florianópolis Professor Sá worked at the Charity Hospital, whose Neurology service he would became chief. In 1968 he became the first neurologist to teach Neurology at Federal University of Santa Catarina. When the University Hospital was inaugurated in 1980, he assumed the Neurology service and later created the hospital Neurology Residence Program. Professor Sá also taught Neurology at UNISUL, a university in the nearby cities of Tubarão and Palhoça. Admired teacher, Professor Sá knew how to summarize complex matters on lectures and how to instigate the mystery of neurological examination on clinical rounds. Always cordial with his students, Professor Sá inspired the study of Neurology in many of them. Respected by his patients, he carefully paid visit daily to them on Charity and University Hospital, including on weekends and holidays. At the State Medical Ethics Council, he was known by his sharp and wise analysis. At the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, Professor Sá acted many years at the Teaching Commission and presided the Brazilian Congress of Neurology, at 2002 in Florianópolis. Professor Sá died on March 15th, 2022, after a long neurodegenerative disease, leaving his wife Regina, his son Daniel, neurologist established in the USA, his daughter Paula, architect, and grandchildren.

Figure 1 Professor Paulo Norberto Discher de Sá (1939-2022).

Conflict of interest:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Authors‘ contributions:

Both authors contributed equally.

• References

• 1 Gomes MM, Cavalcanti JLS. The Brazilian Neurology centenary (1912-2012) and the common origin of the fields of Neurology and Psychiatry. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2013; Jan;71(1): 63-65 https://doi.org/10.1590/s0004-282x2013000100014
• 2 Gomes MM, Maranhão Filho PA, História da Neurologia Brasileira e as tendências geodemográficas. Gagliardi RJ, Takayanagui OM. Tratado de Neurologia da Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. 2. São Paulo (SP): Elsevier; 2019: 7-11
• 3 Meira AT, Betini BG, Cardoso F, Gomes MM, Barbosa ER, Prado RCP. et al. First stages towards the establishment of Brazilian neurology faculties. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2019; 77 (12) 888-895 https://doi.org/10.1590/0004-282X20190147

Publication History

Received: 27 April 2022

Accepted: 10 May 2022

Article published online:
06 February 2023