Roberto Stella
{{Short description|Italian physician (1952–2020)}}{{Infobox medical person|name=Roberto Stella|birth_date={{birth date|1952|07|22}}|death_date={{death date and age|2020|03|11|1952|07|22}}|birth_place=Busto Arsizio, Lombardy, Italy|education=University of Milan (MD)|occupation=General practitioner|death_cause=COVID-19|death_place=Como, Lombardy, Italy}}
Roberto Stella (22 July 1952 – 11 March 2020) was an Italian physician who worked as a general practitioner in Busto Arsizio. He held numerous positions in national medical associations, including serving as president of the Italian Scientific Society for Continuing Medical Education of General Practitioners and the {{Interlanguage link|National Interdisciplinary Medical Society of Primary Care|lt=|||qid=Q87555127}}.
Early life and education
Roberto Stella was born in Busto Arsizio on 22 July 1952.{{Cite news|last=Povoledo|first=Elisabetta|date=2020-03-31|title=Roberto Stella, Regional Doctor with a National Presence, Dies at 67|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/obituaries/roberto-stella-dead-coronavirus.html|access-date=2020-05-10|issn=0362-4331}} Stella earned a doctor of medicine and surgery from University of Milan in 1978. He served in the Alpini and was a volunteer Alpino medic during the 1980 Irpinia earthquake. {{Cite web|title=Lives Lost: Doctor taught a generation of Italian physicians|url=https://www.fox44news.com/news/lives-lost-doctor-taught-a-generation-of-italian-physicians/|date=2020-04-29|website=KWKT - FOX 44|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-10}} Stella specialized in general hematology in Pavia in 1984.{{Cite web|title=Roberto Stella ucciso dal coronavirus, era il presidente dei medici di Varese|url=https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/20_marzo_12/roberto-stella-ucciso-coronavirus-era-presidente-medici-varese-con-pazienti-fino-fine-21f7f16c-642e-11ea-90f7-c3419f46e6a5.shtml|last=Camurani|first=Andrea|date=2020-12-03|website=Corriere della Sera|language=it|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-12}}
Career
Stella ran a medical clinic in Busto Arsizio.{{Cite web|title=È morto il dottor Roberto Stella, presidente dell'Ordine dei Medici|url=https://www.varesenews.it/2020/03/morto-dottor-roberto-stella-presidente-dellordine-dei-medici/909042/|date=2020-03-11|website=VareseNews|language=it|access-date=2020-03-12}} In 2017, Stella was elected to a fourth three-year term as president of the Medical Guild of Varese.{{Cite web|title=Roberto Stella riconfermato alla guida dell'Ordine dei Medici|url=https://www.varesenews.it/2017/11/roberto-stella-riconfermato-alla-guida-dellordine-dei-medici/673302/|date=2017-11-30|website=VareseNews|language=it|access-date=2020-03-12}} Stella is recognized as having trained "a generation of family practitioners in Lombardy."
Stella was active in national medical associations. He held elected positions in the {{Interlanguage link|Federazione nazionale degli ordini dei medici chirurghi e degli odontoiatri|lt=National Federation of the Orders of Doctors and Dental Surgeons|it||qid=}} for almost 30 years, most recently as the national training manager. He served as president of the Italian Scientific Society for Continuing Medical Education of General Practitioners.
He was president of the {{Interlanguage link|National Interdisciplinary Medical Society of Primary Care|lt=|||qid=Q87555127}} (SNaMID).{{Cite web|url=https://www.varesenews.it/2020/03/saluto-colleghi-amici-al-dottor-roberto-stella/909114/|title=Il saluto di colleghi e amici al dottor Roberto Stella|date=2020-03-11|website=VareseNews|language=it|access-date=2020-03-12}}
Stella's last peer-reviewed publication was published posthumously on March 16, 2020. It detailed an e-learning course he prepared about COVID-19 open to all Italian physicians. Over 35,000 participants signed up for the course.
Personal life
= Death =
In 2020, Stella and another physician at his medical practice tested positive for COVID-19. News of their diagnosis sparked panic in the community, prompting mayor {{Interlanguage link|Emanuele Antonelli|lt=|it||qid=}} to issue a statement.{{Cite web|title=Coronavirus, ricoverati due medici di base di Busto Arsizio|url=https://www.varesenews.it/2020/03/due-medici-base-positivi-al-coronavirus/908147/|date=2020-03-09|website=VareseNews|language=it|access-date=2020-03-12}} Stella died in Como on 11 March 2020, after being hospitalized for respiratory failure due to COVID-19.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-11-20-intl-hnk/h_8b5cfc77b5c69d3dfb40d70a9b3f426c|title=Italian medical chief dies from coronavirus|last=de Moura|first=Helena|date=2020-03-11|website=CNN|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-12}}{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/health/italian-medical-chief-roberto-stella-dies-coronavirus/|title=Italian Medical Chief Roberto Stella Dies of Coronavirus at 67|last=Merrett|first=Robyn|date=2020-03-12|website=People|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-13}} He had been treating patients with the virus contracting it himself.{{Cite web|title=Colleagues Mourn Italian 'Hero' Physician Killed by COVID-19|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926816|last=Frellick|first=Marcia|date=2020-03-13|website=Medscape|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-10}} Stella is the first known Italian physician to die from the virus. Health Minister Roberto Speranza remarked that the Italian health system lost a "point of reference." Stella's eulogy was broadcast on national television during the nightly pandemic updates from the Protezione Civile.
References
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Category:Place of birth missing
Category:20th-century Italian physicians
Category:21st-century Italian physicians
Category:Italian general practitioners
Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lombardy
Category:Deaths from respiratory failure