Musings from the Royal North Shore Shoulder Symposium 2022
Royal North Shore Shoulder Symposium 2022
Adil Ahmed, M.D.
Returning in-person in the post-Covid world was long overdue. Sitting amongst colleagues to share thoughts, ideas, and light hearted jests away from the glare of a Zoom screen was a welcome relief. This year’s conference brought together a mix of international experts, regional leaders, and surgical trainees for an excellent series of shoulder education, discussion, and debate. And per typical Aussie style – the “debates” were properly termed “Battle Rounds”, filling the room with both gasps and laughs.
Dr Benjamin Cass, Dr Allan Young, and Dr David Sonnabend constructed a great session covering the gamut of shoulder care. From the world of arthroplasty, revisions, and fracture care, to instability, infection, and innovation – the meeting hit it all. No stone was left unturned as expert panelists provided personal anecdote and evidence-based practice. Particularly colorful “Battle Rounds” featured current internationally controversial topics such as Latarjet vs. Bankart repair and tendon transfer vs. reverse arthroplasty. If one wished to simultaneously learn and share a hearty laugh, this was not the meeting to miss.
Dr Mark Frankle was the honored keynote speaker, flying from Tampa, Florida to share his extensive knowledge of arthroplasty and fracture management. He offered invaluable insight from his career of innovation and challenging the status quo, demonstrating that sometimes, it is failure itself that pushes us to excel. But it wasn’t all podium time for Dr Frankle. Despite battling jetlag, he still made his patented 6:00am gym time at Bondi before the Saturday morning session, showing consultant Terence Moopanar and fellow Adil Ahmed the importance of a sound mind in a sound body.
Local faculty included heavy hitters like Jeffery Hughes, Des Bokor, Eugene Ek, Simon Bell, Gregory Hoy, Ed Bateman, Travis Falconer, Khalid Mohammed, Greg Bain, Shane Barwood, Ezekiel Tan, and many others. Their perspectives demonstrated how varied a shoulder surgeon’s practice can truly be, and the importance of evolution throughout one’s career to continue providing optimal patient care. The number of surgical trainees present highlighted the aforementioned faculty’s commitment to passing on shoulder education. Cultivating the next generation is a hallmark of the fraternity of shoulder surgeons across the world.
