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Fellow provides testimony about EFORT Visiting Fellowships Programme in Paris
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Roxana Viamont-Guerra, MD, from Brazil discusses the unique opportunity she had to visit a renowned host centre and Frédéric Laude, MD, in Clinique du Sport Paris V for 6 months in the beginning of 2018.
A fellowship is an experience that every surgeon looks forward to because it propels our education, career and life experience. When I was informed about my fellowship in Paris, with Frédéric Laude, MD, as a mentor, I was most pleased and enthusiastic. He is one of the lasts pupils of Prof. Emile Letournel and nowadays. He is one of the most experienced and renowned hip surgeons in France and has international prestige. He performs total hip replacement by the minimally invasive anterior approach and hip conservative surgeries, such as hip arthroscopies and periacetabular osteotomies with the mini-open technique.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to do this fellowship in hip joint preservation and replacement surgery with Laude. This experience exceeded my expectations in the educational, cultural and social aspects. I have been involved in about 180 THRs, 15 periacetabular osteotomies (PAO), 40 hip arthroscopies, 15 revision THRs, two proximal femoral varization osteotomies and one hip mosaicplasty. I learned what I really enjoy and what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. All that developed my knowledge and skills, which I will bring back to my country and will help me to improve my practice.
I will apply all the new knowledge and skills I got there in my practice, especially the surgical techniques with tips and tricks of the minimally invasive anterior approach using an orthopaedic table for THR. In the setting of hip arthroscopy, the outside-in approach will be useful to hips with hard traction, usually in cases with an important pincer-type femoroacetabular impingement. The PAO surgery for hip dysplasia, the hardest one in my opinion, will take some time to implement in my practice. In the beginning, I will need to perform it with the supervision of another experienced surgeon. Finally, strategies and techniques for acetabular cup and femoral stem revision surgeries by minimally invasive anterior approach will be gradually performed as I get more experience and confidence.
“Thanks” is a small word to express all the gratitude I have to EFORT Foundation and Medacta for giving me this incredible and fantastic opportunity to propel my career. I appreciate all the support and consideration. I give special thanks to Sanni Hiltunen who spared no efforts to help me, especially when I had some bureaucratic difficulties.
Finally, a special thanks to Laude, who helped me every time I needed it, for teaching me and being patient, as well as helping me improve my French. Thank you for being a great mentor and friend, and a plethora of thanks to all the staff of Clinique du Sport Paris V.
- For more information:
- Read the full report
- All EFORT Fellowships
- EFORT Foundation Visiting Fellowship
- The European Orthopaedics & Traumatology Education Platform EOTEP: Lifelong learning for Orthopaedic & Traumatology Surgeons