From past mentors to notable figures in the community, three orthopedic surgeons shared who they dream of collaborating with in the operating room.
Ask Orthopedic Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting orthopedic care. We invite all orthopedic surgeon and specialist responses.
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Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: If you could perform surgery alongside another physician, whom would you choose?
Anthony Melillo, MD. Bay Oaks Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Houston): I would want to perform surgery along with my mentor and fellowship orthopedic surgeon, the late Hugh Chandler, MD. Dr. Chandler was an outstanding surgeon and taught numerous fellows and lectured to thousands more on complex reconstructions of the hip and knee.
His legacy is filled with technically superior surgeons and too many grateful patients to count. His patients came from all over the world to consult with him at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston until he was physically too frail to continue. Mind you, many of his cases were more than 18 to 20 hours in length, and I never seen him leave the operating room table for a break!
James Mason, DO. Lewis County Orthopedics (Lowville, N.Y.): Marc Philippon, MD, has been a pioneer in advancing hip arthroscopy throughout the world for decades. Although I do not perform hip arthroscopy personally, he has sparked my interest in hip joint preservation through his research and by personally fixing my hip.
I suffered from significant hip pain for several years and was told by several orthopedic surgeons I should just have a hip replacement, even though I had a well-preserved hip joint radiographically. Dr. Philippon performed six procedures in one setting arthroscopically and today my hip is at least 95 percent better.
Yair Kissin, MD. Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center: I would choose Steve Haas, MD, and Alejandro Della Valle, MD, at New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Haas is very well known for minimally invasive total knee replacement and Dr. Della Valle is well known for doing complex surgery, and both are known for being very nice guys and ego-less.