Breaking It Down: A Look at Bone and Joint Surgery

If not, you can count yourself lucky because in the United States of America doctors treat about 7 million fractures each year!

Some of the most common fractures occur in the hip, femur, shoulder, and ankle. These, and many other bone and joint related injuries and ailments, as well as their treatments, were discussed from February 25 – March 2, 2024, during the Bone and Joint Surgery seminar.

The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States of America. The OMI and the HSS have been working together since 1994, hosting 28 Bone and Joint Surgery seminars, including this week’s course, almost annually. The HSS is known for its expertise in the areas of musculoskeletal health, orthopedics, and rheumatology.

This week’s seminar included a wide range of orthopedic topics from cartilage restoration in the knee, to advances of joint replacement of the ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder. The course also covered orthopedic conditions from all age groups, including from infancy to the elderly.

We were honored to have experts from the HSS and the Medical University of Vienna to teach the motivated fellows. The cohort was led by the course director Dr. Daniel W. Green, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), and by co-course director Dr. Reinhard Windhager, Head of the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. The faculty members Dr. Christoph Boehler., Dr. Andreas Gomoll, Dr. Jensen Henry, Dr. Gerhard M. Hobusch, Dr. Ulrich Koller, Dr. Philip Schoettle, Dr. Ernest L. Sink, and Dr. Sabrina M. Strickland also played key roles in the fellows’ educational processes.

Dr. Green explains that he supports the OMI program because “as this week’s course director, I am excited to work with the US faculty from the Hospital for Special Surgery as well as the fantastic faculty from the Medical University of Vienna. This is a unique opportunity to discuss difficult orthopedic cases with young bright surgeons from around the globe.”

One of the highlights of this week was the hands-on training workshop! This session was facilitated by Anthony Zito, Tony Laguerre, and Adam Krinsky from Arthrex (Suvon Surgical Solutions). During the workshop, fellows had the opportunity to test their orthopedic skills after Drs. Strickland and Gomoll showcased their expertise. Participants rotated between four stations, with two focusing on shoulder procedures and two on knee operations. The stations’ themes were shoulder instability, rotator cuff repair, ACL reconstruction, and meniscal repairs.

Dr. Serban-Andrei Constantinescu from Romania explains that “The workshop was a highlight for me personally because being able to talk to Dr. Gomoll and Dr. Strickland about surgical techniques was amazing! I was able to validate my own ideas through their advice and the practical exercises.”

The 33 fellows not only gained new knowledge from the experts, but also learned from each other by exchanging interesting facts about surgical skills and treatment techniques from their 22 different home countries during their case presentations. After two case presentation sessions and a selection process, the faculty awarded seven excellent case presentations this week.