CurveBeam Connect: South American Orthopedics are Making Strides

 

Orthopedics in South America are burgeoning as the number of foot and ankle surgeons begins to increase, said Dr. Cristian Ortiz of the Clinica Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile.

“We are growing up in sports, but we’re also growing up in the practice of all the different areas of medicine and medical care, and especially in orthopedic,” Dr. Ortiz said.

For this month’s episode of CurveBeam Connect, director of marketing Vinti Singh sat down with Dr. Ortiz, a noted foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon and vice president of the International Federation of Foot and Ankle Societies (IFFAS). Every month, Singh interviews doctors, patients, and thought leaders in healthcare technology to discuss how weight bearing CT solutions are changing medicine.

In the last five years, Ortiz said he has seen a growing number of foot and ankle surgeons, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.

“Right now in Chile, we have 60 foot and ankle surgeons who are well-trained or formally trained in the States or Europe,” Dr. Ortiz said. “So it’s a pretty good number for an 18-million-people country.”

More orthopedic surgeons mean an improved level of care and skill for the specialty, he said.

“Medicine is practiced in different ways depending on where you are, which depends on your financial support, level of expertise, and sometimes even if you have the same training, people do things differently,” Dr. Ortiz said.

Dr. Ortiz is preparing for the next meeting of the IFFAS 2020 in Vina del Mar, Chile, where 1,400 surgeons will meet to discuss weight-bearing CT, sports injuries, total ankle replacements, and other hot topics right now in the foot and ankle surgery.

“So it’s very interesting because when you bring speakers talking about the same subjects, you get different ideas because they come from different parts of the world,” Dr. Ortiz said.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Healthcare Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @HealthMKSL
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Recent Episodes

Sterile processing teams are under constant pressure—handling growing surgical demands, working short-staffed, and navigating strict regulations—so getting every instrument tray assembled right the first time has never mattered more. Even a single assembly error can cascade into costly OR delays or, worse, compromise patient safety. Recent research highlights that most surgical instrument errors stem from…

Obstructive sleep apnea affects a whopping 30 million Americans, yet millions remain undiagnosed or abandon CPAP therapy due to its discomfort and inconvenience. Recent innovations in oral appliance therapy, however, are opening up new possibilities for patients seeking safe, effective, and lasting solutions. With sleep apnea linked to virtually every chronic disease—from heart disease to…

In this bonus Career Journeys episode of Care Anywhere: The Global Health Workforce Podcast, host Lea Sims, Chief Marketing Officer of TruMerit, welcomes Jose Arnold Tariga, Director of Clinical Education and Development at Insight Global Health and one of the Top 10 finalists for the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, selected from more…