Jorge Quispe / La Paz
Jorge Hugo Tejerina Peñaranda not only brought thousands of children into the world, he also trained generations of professionals. “Doctor Teje”, the friend of the little ones and an icon of pediatrics in Bolivia, died on Thursday at the age of 84.
“When there were no mechanical ventilators or the technology that we now have in health, my father gave birth to thousands of children,” summarizes Hugo, one of his three children. The renowned pediatrician died on Thursday causing great sorrow in the Bolivian Society of Pediatrics in La Paz and the entire country.
“Doctor Teje”, an abbreviation for his last name, as he was known by his friends, was “such a positive person, so happy, so mischievous, so capable and so generous, like few others,” doctor Javier Torres Goitia Caballero wrote on social networks .
Hugo also adds: “My father was a professor of Medicine, he trained a whole generation of pediatricians and was an icon of Bolivian pediatrics.”
Carla, her daughter, wrote: “You built a beautiful family and if we added all the people you healed, brought into the world, gave hope and help, they would not fit into our understanding. You stay with us forever, because that’s what happens with great souls.” Diego is the other son.
Miguel Rico, one of the hundreds of patients who later also entrusted the health of their children to the famous pediatrician, wrote: “I want to thank you for having been my children’s pediatrician, always ready to serve and provide the best of your professional quality.” .
inspiring
Born in La Paz, trained at the San Calixto school, the young and restless Tejerina entered the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and graduated as a surgeon in 1966.
After his year in the province, he specialized in Pediatrics at the National Medical Center Pediatric Hospital of the Mexican Institute of Social Security, between 1969 and 1972, and in the same period he completed the university course in Medical Pediatrics at the Autonomous University of Mexico.
Later, he completed his residency specializing in perinatal pediatrics at the Mexican Institute of Social Security, dependent on the Autonomous University of Mexico, from 1972 to 1974.
Upon returning to the country, Tejerina dedicated herself to developing her pediatric practice. He was a physician at the Methodist Hospital between 1973 and 1986, an institution where he became head of the Department of Pediatrics and was also responsible for the Pediatrics Internship at the UMSA School of Medicine.
Tejerina was also a member of the American Society of Pediatrics, author and co-author of several national and international publications related to pediatrics and especially neonatology.
The remains of the outstanding professional have been vigil since yesterday in the Santa María room on Mario Mercado Avenue, where mass will be held at 11:00 today and at 12:00 the burial of his remains will be held in the Garden Cemetery.
Torres Goitia Caballero, who was also one of his great friends, said goodbye to the man who inspired him and opened the doors of pediatrics in Bolivia: “You earned heaven for your works and for your love for everyone. Good trip, dear Doctor Teje!”.
