PHILIPPINE SHOULDER SOCIETY  (1977)

History (2009)

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The Philippine Shoulder Society (PShS) sought to fill the fraternizing need of local orthopedic surgeons with an interest in the “forgotten joint.” Drs. Andres D. Borromeo, Antonio A. Rivera, and Lauro M. Abrahan, Jr. have already been representing the Philippines in various shoulder meetings abroad.

It was but fitting that founding PShS President Dr. Jose Pujalte, Jr. sought their wisdom and experience as Advisers of the society. Dr. Pujalte trained under Dr. Nobuhara in 1995. The following year, while under the tutelage of Dr. Ramon B. Gustilo at Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), he also assisted Dr. Douglas A. Becker from the Mayo Clinic in shoulder cases. In 1998, although officially in the hip and knee firm at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, Dr. Pujalte continued his interest in the shoulder by assisting Prof. Andrew J. Carr, then the Upper Extremity chief In December 1997, the Asian shoulder Association (ASA) President Dr. Katsuya Nobuhara came to Manila to induct the first officers and members of the PShS at the Westin Philippine Plaza. This was during the 48th Annual Philippine Orthopaedic Association Convention. In the following year, Dr. Y Kanatani from the Nobuhara Hospital came to speak on basic shoulder arthroscopy. Dr. Edward A. Sarrosa was the 2nd President of the Shoulder group. He also made his pilgrimage to the Nobuhara Hospital before training in the University of Toronto (Toronto Hospital) under Prof. Daryll Ogilvie- Harris. During Dr. Sarrosa’s term, a total shoulder arthroplasty course was held with the help of Prof. Jaeganath Krishnan and Dr. David Martin from Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. It was also during his presidency that the society started participating in the “Specialty Day” of the Philippine Orthopaedic Association’s annual convention. In 2003,

Toshinori Kondo from the Nobuhara Hospital in Hyogo, Japan spoke on partial shoulder replacement and rotator cuff tears. The 3rd Presidents was Dr. Jose Anthony Q. Jocson who previously secured a full shoulder fellowship with Prof. Andrew J. Carr of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford. The Society focused on local speakers with shoulder training. At
the 2004 POA annual convention, Drs. Jose Fernando Syquia, Ian Panuncialman, and Mario Geronilla were the guest speakers.

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The 4th president of the Philippine Shoulder Society was Dr. Alex R. Supapo, who is also a founding member. He is another Nobuhara-trained fellow. A successful mid-year was held at Discovery Suites, Ortigas Center in August 2005 with Prof. Krishnan reprising. This time he introduced the “reversed Shoulder” prosthesis and a porcine patch for irreparable, massive rotator cuff tears. Aside from this, his term also coincided with the 25th ASEAN orthopaedic association convention. Invited foreign speakers then were the following, Dr. Katsuya Nobuhara from Japan and then the president of Asian Shoulder Society, whose lecture was about Throwing Plane (The APIT Lesion) and Recent Advancements in Sports Biomechanics, Dr. Andrew Tan from Singapore lectured on Arthroscopic Bankart Repair, and Dr. Toshinori Kondo also from Japan on Imaging Diagnosis of the Shoulder. Among the local lecturers were: Dr. Andres D. Borromeo who lectured on Treatment for Type III A-C Joint Injuries: Philippine Experience and Dr. Jose S. Pujalte, Jr.who talked about Neglected Anterior Shoulder Dislocation: Open or Leave Well Enough Alone? It was a successful combined 25th ASEAN and 56th POA annual convention. During the term of Dr. Supapo, he was invited by Dr. Shigehito Kuroda then the president of Japan Shoulder Society as a foreign guest lecturer during their 32nd Annual Meeting which was held in Tokyo, Japan on September 2 and 3, 2005. His topic was Neglected Anterior Fracture Dislocation of the Shoulder.

Dr. Benigno Agbayani was the immediate past president, steering the Philippine Shoulder Society from 2007-2008. He was a fellow at the Flinders Medical Center in Australia from 1996 to 1998 specializing in Arthroscopy and Arthroplasty. We had a successful Subspecialty Symposium Day during the 2008 Philippine Orthopaedic Association Annual Convention with Prof. Young Moon from Korea as our foreign speaker. During the POA Convention week, a PShS Symposium separately held beside the main venue was likewise conducted with Dr. and Prof Moon as our foreign speakers. The past two years saw a collaboration with the Dept of Orthopedics of UST, in conducting Shoulder Arthroscopy Workshops, both cadaveric and dry models. Aside from these, periodic meetings highlight information dissemination on the shoulder, in the form of lectures and case discussions.

The future is bright for the PShS. In the next 25 years, Filipino orthopedic surgeons are expected to concentrate on the sub-specialties – the shoulder (and elbow) included. They will naturally need a home base for, hopefully, the “remembered joint”.