Rishi Bisht MS Orthopedics, NEPAL
Bujar Shabani, MD, PhD, KOSOVO

It was a great privilege to be the recipients of the first-ever ISAKOS Knee Arthroplasty Fellowship. We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to ISAKOS for providing us this opportunity to travel around to centers across the USA with the best mentors in the world.

The first leg of the fellowship was in Sacramento, California with Dr. Steve Howell. We were introduced to the various aspects of calipered kinematically aligned total knee arthroplasty. It was absolutely a great experience to be with the pioneer of this technique. In addition to the surgical techniques, we understood the importance of thorough counseling and patient education. We enjoyed the countless extracurricular activities including a hike around Lake Tahoe, a drive to San Francisco, a visit to the iconic Alcatraz, and a walk in the old Central Pacific Railroad Depot.

The next stop was in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Dr. Dan Washer. The first day was a warm welcome by Dr. Washer’s team with authentic New Mexican cuisine at El Pinto. Surgeries started the following day at Sandoval Regional Medical Center where there were a variety of cases lined up for us. We learned the tips and tricks while operating on valgus knees and unicondylar knee replacement along with the principles of mechanical alignment. The highlight of the surgeries was the TKA in the valgus knee with lateral arthrotomy. The cadaveric lab sessions were one of the most exciting parts of the fellowship in New Mexico. The amount of research going on in the lab was inspirational. We saw operations back-to-back with two different philosophies at two different centers- kinematic alignment vs. mechanical alignment. As for Sacramento, there was a bonanza of extracurricular fun awaiting us. We enjoyed our hike to the Red Rock Trail, a picnic, a sauna, shopping, and the good old town of Santa Fe.

With these precious memories, we flew to Dr. Kevin Plancher in New York. A day of surgeries was dedicated to unicondylar knee replacement at Lenox Hill. The insights Dr. Plancher gave us were invaluable. The next stop at New York was NYU Langone where Dr. Lajam and her team gave us a huge welcome. We are so thankful for the preparation they put in for our visit and especially for preparing our national flags (Nepal and Kosovo) to welcome us and enrich our knowledge of robotic knee replacement. There are no words powerful enough to appreciate the planning that went into our fellowship to balance the teaching and social activities. This was proven by the amazing time we spent with Dr. Plancher at a baseball game far away from the daily hospital work.

The final leg of the fellowship was the 14th Biennial ISAKOS Congress in Boston, Massachusetts. This was a scientific feast with paper presentations, discussions and a rare opportunity to meet the leading figures in Arthroscopy and Arthroplasty from all corners of the world. Finally, the day arrived when we received our certificates for the ISAKOS Knee Arthroplasty Fellowship 2019-2021. We are grateful to the ISAKOS for providing us the opportunity to explore the treasure trove of learning activities all the way from Sacramento to Boston. We have added a feather to our academic careers and we have definitely learned new things that will reshape the clinical services being delivered in our places. ISAKOS has enabled us to devise our own plans to reach the goal of clinical excellence in our countries. Thank you, Dr. Nicolaas Budhiparama, for your instrumental role in establishing this fellowship, and thank you to all the mentors for your invaluable guidance.