Aspetar, the Doha-based orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, has opened the region's first Sports Surgery Training Centre for training surgeons in sports related injuries.

“This is the first such centre in the entire region. Not many surgeons are trained in this discipline,” Dr Phillippe Landreau, the chief of surgery at Aspetar told Gulf Times.

“I initiated this programme about five years ago.We aim to create a surgical hub for training and education of the latest arthroscopic techniques which will involve research as well. The preliminary estimate shows that around 20,000 sports orthopaedic surgeons are in need in the Middle East and Asia in the next 5-10 years,” explained the official.

“The first training session will start soon.We can train about 10-20 surgeons at one session. Sessions will depend on the number of participants. There are about 4-5 experts to train the surgeons including our visiting surgeons. A training session is about 2-3 days. We expect to train between 200 and 300 surgeons per year,” he added.

“In the training centre, we reproduce the same conditions as the operative theatre, which is very important for the quality of the service. The surgeon has to get trained in the practical areas of sports surgery. Therefore, we need to train in the same conditions” he continued.

Dr. Landreau pointed out: “We will be having some surgical simulators to provide the training. We are targeting beginners and the best way is to practise on human body parts. So we practise on cadaveric specimens which are donated for such reasons. There are multiple donor banks around the globe, mainly in the USA. We have contract with a particular specimen bank and they ship specimens as per our need.”

Aspetar has targeted some countries in the region for the training which include countries from the Middle East, North Africa, and a few European and Asian countries.

“We will be advertising the start of the training sessions soon. Educational societies have approached us for training as well, and many of them have agreements with Aspetar. The facility is open to public and private institutions,”noted Dr. Landreau.

The official pointed out that about 800 sport surgeries are done in Aspetar yearly. He maintained: “We have four orthopaedic surgeons and one groin pain surgeon. There are about 10 highly specialised visiting surgeons for specific needs and sub-specialties.”

The chief of surgery maintained that there is an increase in the number of surgeries done for the people from Qatar. “We attract a considerable number of international athletes from GCC and the Middle East, MENA and Europe. The demand is constantly increasing. In the last five years, the number of surgeries has doubled. It is increasing by 10 -15 % every year,” he observed.