ISKSAA BASK TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIP 2022
Fellowship report: Dr. Abhishek Mishra
Being a dynamic field, Orthopaedics demands for constant interaction with national and international orthopaedic surgeons in addition to surgical training and academics. We also believe that such interactions make us wiser and help us in improving our knowledge, management and surgical skills. So, we were delighted when we were selected for ISKSAA BASK fellowship under guidance of Dr Sanjeev Anand in Leeds teaching Hospital, NHS trust, UK.
On the completion of our ISKSAA BASK fellowship 2023 from 16th May to 28th may 2023(2 weeks) in Leeds teaching Hospital, NHS trust, we would like to thank Dr. Sanjeev Anand, Dr. Lalit Maini, Dr. Pushpinder Bajaj, and entire ISKSAA committee for providing us such a great opportunity.
I (Dr. Abhishek Mishra) and Dr. Dharmendra Kumar started our journey on 15th May 2023. We got a warm welcome when we arrived in London. It was a wonderful experience for us to attend BASK conference held at London.
BASK CONFERENCE 2023:
We were fortunate to attend the BASK conference 2023 held at Central Westminster Hall, London on 16th and 17th may 2023. We were invited with complimentary registration to the conference and were also invited to Gala Dinner. I must say, that lovely feast and mesmerizing ambiance was a great start. We were greeted there by Dr Sanjeev Anand at the conference. Our guide Dr Sanjeev Anand was very humble and supportive. He took care of our all essentials and requirements during our fellowship. We had a great time at the BASK conference. A few technical talks went over our heads, but there were many interesting talks on advanced knee surgeries which really fascinated us. I would like to thank Dr Sanjeev Anand for giving us the opportunity to meet other senior doctors of BASK society and faculty member. We also had a chance to meet Dr Leela Biant, President of BASK society. She gave us a warm welcome to the conference and gave her best wishes for our fellowship ahead. Also, Dr Sanjeev Anand helped us to have a fun trip in London which is still imprinted in our minds. After attending two days of conference, we left for Leeds for our BASK fellowship.
BASK fellowship 2023:
We must say that Orthopaedic department of Leeds teaching hospital is very well organized and maintained. We liked our time in operating rooms and it was a good learning experience. All our logistics and residential stay was taken care of by Dr Sanjeev Anand. He was always accessible when we needed. Our fellowship started in Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds. We were provided with OT list for surgeries beforehand for us to be prepared. Also, he made our schedule very flexible. We were allowed and motivated to see various surgeries other than Knee surgeries.
Surgeries: We observed various surgeries in the OR. My experience in knee surgeries was very limited before this fellowship. I had exposure of primary total knee arthroplasty during my early residency days, although I had a little practical experience of revision and partial knee replacement surgeries. We had the opportunity to observe Partial knee replacement, Patellofemoral joint replacement and revision knee replacement surgery for the first time. And discussion during and after the cases were very helpful. All the consultants, fellows and staffs were very helpful during my entire stay.
Also, we had the opportunity to observe MPFL reconstruction for recurrent patellofemoral dislocation. We also had the opportunity see variety of knee arthroscopy cases. Dr. Sanjeev Anand discussed the key points and tips and tricks after each case. He also patiently answered all the question we asked him. These discussions were very helpful in improving our clinical practice and surgical skills. I learned a lot about basics of knee arthroscopy; the setup, positioning, various implants, portals, techniques and procedures. The surgeries were diverse and covered a vast area in knee surgeries (ACL reconstruction, PCL reconstruction, Meniscus surgeries, MPFL reconstruction, Patellofemoral joint replacement, Partial knee replacement, Revision total knee arthroplasty, etc). Although our fellowship was to observe and learn about advanced knee surgeries, we were also fortunate to observe cases other than knee surgeries which we had no prior exposure before like hip arthroscopy and labral repair, Eden hybinette procedure using shoulder arthroscopy, Revision total hip arthroplasty, etc. I also learnt about the rehabilitation protocol for each case.
We also had a chance to visit LGI (Leeds General infirmary) which is an emergency trauma centre of Leeds city. It is one of the biggest and oldest building of the city. It has a huge influx of emergency trauma patient load. Apart from the surgeries, there is a lot to learn from Leeds teaching Hospital. The hospital is very well organized and its smooth functioning is remarkable despite such heavy patient load. They are following universal guidelines for every procedure. The work being done there is commendable and fascinating.
Dr Sanjeev Anand helped us out and guided us in every aspect of our fellowship, be it regarding hospital, local area for food and shopping or weekend trips. He had been like a local guardian. We had a great time with him having interesting talks about his experiences and suggestions for us.
Of course, on weekends, we were fellows turned into tourists. Dr. Dharmendra and I had a great time visiting various places and we enjoyed every bit of it. Altogether, it was a great academic, professional and fun treat for us. We are thankful to ISKSAA for the great experience.
Last but not the least I would like to mention my colleague and senior Dr Dharmendra Kumar. He was very supportive and helpful. He guided me thorough out my fellowship both professionally and personally. He was very humble and understanding.
Dr. Abhishek Mishra
