Dr. Trenhaile trains shoulder surgeons from South Korea

In early September, Dr. Trenhaile had the opportunity to train four surgeons from South Korea at the wet lab at one of Rockford Orthopedic’s locations. He spent a few days with them, helping them to perfect a few different shoulder techniques.

He said that training the trainers is always a fun and challenging experience that he enjoys, though he doesn’t often have these opportunities.

“It comes in waves. Several years ago, I got a hold of Poland, and I ended up training about thirty surgeons from Poland because of word of mouth.”

He has also trained shoulder surgeons from from Egypt, Switzerland, Germany, China, and India.

“They send the best of their best to me, and they get the upgraded techniques.” After the surgeons train with Dr. Trenhaile, it’s very common for them to take those techniques back to their country of origin and train their colleagues or the next generation of surgeons.

Also, It’s often emerging markets that want education and training.

Dr. Trenhaile trains himself at conferences and meetings that he attends around the US and the rest of the world.

Often, invited panelists will give a brief presentation, followed by a quick fire question session where other surgeons will bring in videos of difficult cases.

The six or seven surgeons on the panel must say how they would perform this surgery and give insight, so it’s an iron sharpening iron experience.

“And I read. I read every day. Every journal I get, I read it so that I can get better.”

He often takes the techniques that he reads about and applies them while teaching cadaveric courses where he can test and practice new techniques without any risk to a patient.