The Joint Replacement Podcast

Dr. Andrew Schneider joins The Joint Replacement Podcast to discuss what it is really like to build a career as a young academic arthroplasty surgeon.We talk about why he chose academics, transitioning from fellowship to attending life, building a referral base, balancing clinical volume with research and teaching, working with residents and fellows as a young attending, finding mentors, developing meaningful industry collaborations, and deciding which opportunities are actually worth pursuing early in a surgical career.Dr. Schneider also shares his clinical philosophy on robotic-assisted joint replacement, why he combines robotics with kinematic alignment in total knee replacement, how he thinks about accuracy and precision in the current robotics debate, and why he believes partial knee replacement remains underutilized in appropriately selected patients.We finish with anterior versus posterior hip replacement, the future of robotic surgery, artificial intelligence, big data, and a potential future where personalized surgical planning is informed by the outcomes of thousands of patients with similar anatomy and clinical characteristics.An especially valuable conversation for orthopedic residents, adult reconstruction fellows, junior faculty, and surgeons interested in robotics and the future of arthroplasty.

What does knee replacement recovery really feel like?Diana Braun knows firsthand. After delaying surgery for nearly a decade, she ultimately underwent simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement. That experience eventually led her to co-found The Knee Zone and co-author Knee Replacement Secrets with her husband, joint replacement surgeon Dr. Raj Sinha.In this episode, Diana joins Dr. Matthew Sloan to discuss the patient side of knee replacement: how she knew it was finally time for surgery, why the mental recovery was harder than she expected, what bilateral knee replacement was really like, and why patients should think in terms of months rather than weeks when setting expectations.They also discuss sleep, prehab, swelling, compression, assistive devices, driving, stairs, preparing your home, choosing a surgeon, avoiding the temptation to do too much too soon, and the importance of identifying the activities you want to get back to before surgery.For anyone considering knee replacement, currently recovering, or caring for joint replacement patients, this conversation offers a practical and candid look at the recovery journey from someone who has lived it.For more information visit https://thekneezone.com/You can find her book Knee Replacement Secrets on Amazon at this link: https://a.co/d/0cg5WcFp

What does it really take to match into an adult reconstruction fellowship?In Episode #47, Dr. Bill Hamilton of the Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic joins me for a practical guide for orthopedic residents preparing for fellowship. We discuss when to start preparing, what fellowship directors actually look for, research and recommendation letters, preference signaling, interview strategy, and how to build your rank list.We also explore how residents should evaluate case volume, surgical autonomy, revision exposure, fellowship culture, clinic experience, robotics, manual surgical training, and academic versus private-practice programs.Dr. Hamilton shares fascinating data from his upcoming study of the adult reconstruction fellowship match. The current environment appears increasingly applicant-friendly, with more fellowship positions available and applicants increasingly matching near the top of their rank lists. He explains why many applicants may only need 7–10 high-quality interviews rather than 15–20, and what residents should focus on instead. If you’re a PGY-2, PGY-3, or PGY-4 considering a career in hip and knee replacement, this is an episode worth saving before fellowship application season.For more information on the Learning SHAK visit https://www.learningshak.org/Current Concepts in Joint Replacement information can be found at https://www.ccjr.com/

Maxwell Courtney, MD joins Episode 46 of The Joint Replacement Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about arthroplasty, research, health policy, and one of the biggest challenges currently facing joint replacement surgeons.Dr. Courtney is Division Chief of Adult Reconstruction at Rothman Orthopaedics, an accomplished joint replacement surgeon and researcher, and Chair of the AAHKS Advocacy Committee. He was also my chief resident during my orthopedic training at Penn and someone I have looked up to throughout my career.We discuss Max’s path into adult reconstruction, building a successful surgical practice, mentorship, research, evidence-based medicine, and how joint replacement has transformed over the past decade through TXA, multimodal pain management, rapid recovery protocols, and outpatient surgery.Then we turn to the proposed Medicare reimbursement cuts facing total hip and knee replacement. Max explains how CMS and the AMA RUC value physician work, why increasingly efficient outpatient care has triggered another review of arthroplasty codes, and why much of the postoperative work performed by modern orthopedic teams may not be captured in the current reimbursement system.We also discuss Max’s recent trip to Washington, DC, his conversations with members of Congress, the AAHKS strategy to push back against the cuts, the potential consequences for Medicare access and private practice, and his prediction for what may happen when the final 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is released.This is an important conversation about not only what surgeons are paid, but how reimbursement policy may shape patient access, physician independence, and the future of joint replacement in the United States.

Dr. Jesse Otero, MD, PhD joins The Joint Replacement Podcast for a deep conversation about complex joint replacement, periprosthetic joint infection, research, and building a career around the patients other surgeons often find most challenging.Jesse shares the unconventional strategy he used to build a busy practice early in his career, including calling local surgeons and offering to take the revision, infection, and complex cases they did not want to manage. His first 17 cases were infected revisions, helping establish a career focused on being the surgeon other surgeons call when a case becomes difficult.He also tells the deeply personal story of his grandfather’s knee replacement complication and subsequent infection, an experience that helped redirect his career toward solving the devastating problem of PJI.We then discuss how the OrthoCarolina PJI program developed a registry containing approximately 5,500 patients, how a busy private practice can still produce high-level clinical research, and why standardizing care can transform everyday clinical practice into a research engine.Finally, Jesse breaks down their prospective randomized multicenter trial of one-stage versus two-stage exchange for chronic periprosthetic joint infection headed by his colleague Thomas K. Fehring, MD. Among 232 randomized patients, infection-free success at two years was 97% after one-stage exchange versus 91% after two-stage exchange, with the trial demonstrating noninferiority of the one-stage strategy when performed using their rigorous protocol.A fascinating discussion about surgical complexity, research, complications, resilience, and what may be the next major evolution in treating infected hip and knee replacements.