Scrubbing In With the Giants (2026 Traveling Fellows - Ep 1)

Send us Fan Mail Three 2026 AHF Traveling Fellows on what two and a half weeks scrubbing in with the most experienced anterior hip surgeons in the US actually changed in their practice. For early-career hip surgeons weighing the fellowship, and for anyone refining their anterior approach technique, revision skills, or practice model. Every year the Anterior Hip Foundation sends a small group of early-career surgeons city to city to scrub in with the highest-volume and most innovative anterior hip surgeons in the country. Host Joe Schwab sits down with Alex Savage, Anoop Prasad, and Brent Albracht, three of the 2026 fellows with academic, community, and transatlantic vantage points, to unpack the trip while it is still fresh. The conversation moves from the OR to everything around it: radiographic versus acetabular inclination in Dr. Matta's cadaver lab, anterior nail conversion in Houston, buttress fixation for large acetabular defects from the front, the femoral broach angle that had caused two perforations, and the on-table versus off-table question that came up at every stop. Along the way the fellows retrace the itinerary from San Francisco through Los Angeles, Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta to the AHF meeting, and describe what they learned from watching how surgeons at the top of their game run teams, follow up patients, and build a practice. They are also candid about what the fellowship costs in family time and practice coverage, who it is not built for, and what they would tell next year's applicants. Their biggest takeaways were not techniques at all: confidence, an approach to practice, and perspective. ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 Meet the 2026 AHF Traveling Fellows 01:17 Three different roads to anterior hip arthroplasty 06:01 The Shania Twain karaoke story 07:33 Cup inclination lessons from Dr. Matta's cadaver lab 11:22 Anterior nail conversion tips from Houston 12:56 What changed in the OR after the fellowship 14:50 Anterior approach revision: buttress fixation research 17:18 Cadaver labs vs live cases for learning revision 20:57 Fixing femoral broach angle after two perforations 23:17 The fellowship itinerary from San Francisco to Nashville 28:05 Team culture at OrthoCarolina 29:25 Unexpected mentors and practice-building lessons 34:34 What the fellows learned from each other 39:41 Family, PA coverage, and the cost of three weeks away 46:09 On-table vs off-table anterior hip: where each fellow landed 51:57 Who the Traveling Fellowship is not built for 56:59 Advice for next year's fellows: notes, GoPro, survival guide 1:00:49 Confidence, perspective, and the biggest takeaways 1:04:45 Which fellows group wins, and why to apply for 2027 Listen to the AHF Podcast on your preferred platform: Buzzsprout: https://ahfpodcast.buzzsprout.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ahf-podcast/id1749521487 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CrGJyvRiQFTCU3FFFVvHc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ahf-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anteriorhipfoundation Homepage: https://anteriorhipfoundation.com This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. The content discussed does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional judgment. Clinicians should rely on their own training, experience, and clinical decision-making when applying information from this discussion. #AnteriorHipFoundation #AHFPodcast #TravelingFellowship #AnteriorApproach #AnteriorHip #TotalHipArthroplasty #HipReplacement #RevisionTHA #OrthopedicSurgery #SurgicalEducation #Arthroplasty #AlexSavage #AnoopPrasad #BrentAlbracht