Top award for Addenbrooke's hip and knee surgeon

Mr Vikas Khanduja, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, has been awarded a prestigious travelling fellowship to the United States.

 

 

He was one of two British doctors to be awarded the British and American Hip Society fellowship - the first ever from Cambridge - and spent three weeks in September visiting public, private and university hospitals in Boston, Baltimore, New York, New Albany, Ohio and London, Ontario.

 

"It was brilliant – we met the who's who in hip surgery from around the world, looking at their practices, research facilities and model of care. I picked up tips and tricks for surgical management of patients with difficult hip problems and refined my own operating techniques."

 

Mr Khanduja said it was a very different model compared with the British hospitals. "The hours are much longer – they start work at 5.30am and finish at 7pm – but they are also paid significantly more.

 

"The surgeons would work on two operating theatres in tandem, with a parallel list; as one procedure is finishing, the patient in the next theatre is being prepared. This way they have hardly any waiting lists, although they have a very different funding model. There is no compromise on patient safety - it is just as good."

 

Mr Khanduja joined CUH in 2007 after completing his specialist registrar training in London and fellowships in hip and knee surgery in Cambridge, London and New York. On this fellowship, he also presented his work on femoroacetabular impingement, a condition known to be a precursor of arthritis in the hip and gave grand round talks at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

 

The "icing on the cake", however, was being invited to attend the closed meeting of the American Hip Society. Fewer than 100 consultants worldwide are members at any one time.

 

As a result of the fellowship, Mr Khanduja plans to develop a trainee exchange programme between CUH and New York's Hospital for Special Surgery and the MGH in Boston, and engage in collaborative research with these units. On the clinical side he wishes to bring the efficiency model of care for joint replacements to CUH.

 

 

 

Back to top