They were reacting to reports on the capabilities and expertise of Filipino orthopaedic surgeons and the availability of equipment in major medical centers for the surgical treatment of degenerative osteoarthritis of the hip and knees.
"Most of our fellows, after their four-year residency training program, go for subspecialty fellowship training in prestigious medical centers in America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. They have established links internationally and have constantly exchanged ideas, knowledge and expertise in the different fields such as joint replacement, spine, pediatric orthopaaedics, orthopaedic trauma, sports injuries, hand and microvascular surgery, and adult orthopaedics," they said in a statement.
The Philippine Orthopaedic Association has seven subspecialty affiliate societies, one of which is the Philippine Hip and Knee Society founded in 1991 by a group of renowned specialists headed by Prof. Ramon Gustilo, professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA and former chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics of Heneppin Country Medical Center, also in Minneapolis.