BBJ: There is often a family tradition of passing on a love for the medical profession. Was that obvious in the case of your sons?

Prof. László Hangody: I can’t speak for other professions, but I think that in the case of medical dynasties, workplace and professional problems crop up quite frequently in discussions at home. This was the case for my father and me; he was a general surgeon, and I was always interested in locomotor surgery, but there were always overlaps around a common theme. In the case of my sons, their specialization is the same as mine.

BBJ: Why did you choose orthopedics?

Prof. László Hangody: My father was at university between 1945-51. It was after this period that specialization within surgery began. He worked as a general surgeon but also performed musculoskeletal surgery, gynecology, and urology. When I started working, locomotor surgery was already a separate field. It was also lucky that arthroscopic surgery started at the beginning of my career (and I had perhaps a little more talent than average for this), and within locomotor surgery, this became a big trend, accounting for a third of the work. My sons were already born into this.

Dr. László Hangody: I liked that orthopedics was wide-ranging. A wide variety of patients – young, elderly, men, women – and ailments can be cured. At first, I considered gynecology and urology, but eventually, orthopedics won, and I’m glad it turned out that way.

Dr. György Hangody: Medical university was almost inevitable after high school. By then, I was also certain that I wanted a “manual profession,” and I committed to orthopedics during my fourth and fifth years at university. I consider myself very lucky because I love what I do, and the opportunity for development motivates me. In the long run, a good measure of the value of our work is that pre- and post-operative X-rays are always taken, and the results can be traced.

BBJ: What is it like to work together?

Dr. László Hangody: Working together is, as my brother said, like fruit on a tree that has slowly ripened over the years and can now be harvested. It’s a great happiness, not to mention the security that envelops, professionally and emotionally, when you work with your family members within an operating room and know each other’s “vibrations” exactly.

Dr. György Hangody: It must be a huge source of pride for a father, in my opinion, that we can operate as three Hangodys. I think this is a curiosity.

Prof. László Hangody: It’s a magnificent experience because I see the genetic patterns that I believe I discover in myself. I have already looked back at my journey; I know when it went in the right direction what my difficulties were, and I can also measure my success. I see in my children that they have a talent for certain things, which I help develop. In this sense, our joint work and joint discussions work very well. They accept and sample what I have achieved; obviously, they don’t want to restrict themselves to this level and want to go even further, but they see my professional work and can judge what I did well and what they would like to do differently.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of July 12, 2024.