Participation in the 2025 KSES – TOSSM Travelling Fellowship program

Korea is one of the leading countries in Asia in shoulder and elbow surgery. The KSES-TOSSM Traveling Fellowship Program is an excellent opportunity to expand clinical knowledge and surgical skills and learn directly from world-class surgeons.

On days 1 and 2, I visited Ulsan University Asan Medical Center to meet Prof. Kyoung-Hwan-Koh and Prof. In-Ho Jeon. They are experts in shoulder and elbow surgery. I learned about middle-trapezius transfer for irreparable rotator cuff tear, reverse shoulder arthroplasty with PSI, and elbow osteophyte removal. After the operation, Professor In-Ho Jeon lectured about the rotator cuff healing principle, which inspired me.

On day 3, I visited Prof. Jae-Chul Yoo at Sungkyunkwan University Samsung Medical Center. He performed arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with patch augmentation and reverse shoulder arthroplasty combined with coracoid transfer to decrease the risk of conjoint tendon impingement postoperatively.

On day 4, Prof. Sang-Jin Shin from Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital smoothly performed 7 operations in a day. I learned a lot about the operating theatre system's effectiveness. That day's cases included rotator cuff repair, shoulder instability, and shoulder arthroplasty.

Prof. Jong-Hun Ji from Catholic University Daejeon St. Mary’s Hospital performed a complex shoulder instability case, rotator cuff repair, and shoulder arthroplasty wonderfully on day 5. He allowed me to observe the case closely in the operating field.

On day 6, Dr. Hee-Dong Lee at Veterans Health Service Medical Center showed us the complex reverse shoulder arthroplasty with a PSI guide. He also performed 2 rotator cuff repair cases smoothly.

On day 7, Prof. Joo-Han Oh from Seoul National University Bundang Hospital arranged the mini-conference early in the morning for us, the traveling fellows. His reverse shoulder arthroplasty cases were fast and perfect. He also taught us the rotator cuff repair techniques.

On day 8 of the program, Prof. Yang-Soo Kim showed us the biceps rerouting technique for massive rotator cuff repair and patch augmentation under the acromion to act as a spacer. His techniques were remarkable.

During the 32nd annual congress of the KSES, I attended lectures on new concepts of shoulder and elbow surgery, which enlightened me. On the last day, I had a chance to share my experience and research on the topic “Optimization of Plate Position in Proximal Humerus Fractures.”

I had a wonderful time and made friends with fabulous people. After the program, I will teach and share clinical experiences from Korea with younger surgeons. Finally, I will try to improve sports medicine patient care in Thailand.

Tharit Inkaratana (Pon)
Phramongkutklao College of Medicine
Phramongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand