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2009 EFAS-DJO Travelling Fellow reports on his Whistle Stop Tour to the States

Left to right - Alex Kline (Fellow), Nick Siebert (Fellow), Maneesh Bhatia, Robert Anderson

Maneesh Bhatia, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at University Hospitals of Leicester, has submitted a Twitter-style diary on his EFAS-DJO Travelling Fellowship trip to the States last November. Our thanks go to EFAS and the US hosts who are participating in this Fellowship programme.

Saturday 31st October 2009: Working in UK till the last minute. Hurried packing the night before. Miserable weather in UK. Looking forward to some sunshine.

Sunday 1st November: Reached Dallas. Great weather as expected. Spent Sunday relaxing & exploring Dallas. Went downtown. Big disappointment as hardly any people, closed shops, no excitement or buzz. Lucky to find a cab to return back to hotel.

Monday 2nd November: Picked up from hotel by Alex, Dr James Brodsky’s Fellow. Really friendly & filled me in with all the info. Met Dr Brodsky who welcomes me to the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Busy Outpatients. Six rooms for the patients. I try to keep pace with Dr Brodsky who rushes from one room to next. Finished work at 5.30 pm.

Next 4 days in Dallas passed very quickly. Lucky to go to different hospitals & observe the other two partners Dr Christian Ryor & Dr John Early.

Saturday 7th November: Next destination was Charlotte, North Carolina.  Dr Robert Anderson picks me up at 6.40 am on 9th November. He takes me to the Carolina Medical Centre Hospital meeting where I am introduced & welcomed by the Chairman as the visiting EFAS Fellow. Tremendous exposure at Charlotte. Spent most of the time in Theatres with Dr Anderson, Dr Hodges Davis & Dr Cohen. Really friendly people. Charlotte Medical Centre is a smart hospital with state of art facilities including big television screens in theatre to watch live surgery.

Saturday 14th November: travelled up to Rochester, New York.   Prof Judy Baumhauer picks me up from the Rochester Airport. Had a really good time at Rochester working closely with Prof Baumhauer and Dr Sam Flemister.

Saturday 21st November: Extended trip at Rochester as Judy invites me to join the Ankle Replacement Workshop on Saturday. Completely different experience from UK as a really early start at 5.30 am. Good fun & educational experience working with faculty including Dr Mark Easley, Dr Lin Sheldon & Dr Thomas Lee.

Did not realise how quickly my three weeks passed in USA. Met some really nice people & made good friends. Picked up new techniques. Overall great exposure. Thoroughly recommended to colleagues. Sincere thanks to EFAS & DJO for providing this unique experience.

Maneesh Bhatia and Dr Davis

Maneesh Bhatia is the fourth Foot & Ankle specialist to benefit from the EFAS-DJO Travelling Fellowship Grant which was established in 2007. The first two European members to visit the USA were Peter Bock and Stefan Hofstaetter. In 2008, Viktor Anosau was the first Eastern European EFAS member to be awarded the EFAS/DJO Travelling Fellowship and visited three leading foot and ankle centres in Western Europe.
Visit the EFAS website www.efas.co.uk for information on application for the 2010 EFAS-DJO Travelling Fellowship.

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