Meet Prem Ramkumar of Long Beach. California

Today we’d like to introduce you to Prem Ramkumar.

Hi Prem, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started studying the hip and knee at age 12 by a happenstance opportunity to spend time in the lab of a prominent scientist, Harry McKellop, who is best known for his contributions to modern hip replacement. Since this moment, I developed and fostered an early passion for hips and knees. This head start gave me time to process and ponder the hip and knee through a unique and unfettered lens over two decades. Various personal moments affected my perspective – as a former athlete, as a family member of joint replacement recipients, as an MBA evaluating complex care models centering on orthopaedic care in a broken system, as a technologist who dove deep into remote patient monitoring and artificial intelligence, and as a scientist deeply invested in advancing our field.

I spent many nights awake in high school, college, medical school, residency, and two fellowships looking for ways to learn more, contribute to the field, address obvious deficiencies, and blend two seemingly distinct fields: joint preservation and joint replacement. There were many people along the way who did not believe in me or my vision – some more vocal than others. They know who they are, and they really tried their hardest. But the people who did believe in me were louder than those who just couldn’t wait to see me fail.

After finishing training at Baylor College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Hospital for Special Surgery, I finally returned home to focus on serving Southern California the best way I could: bringing world-class, cutting edge care that leverages sports medicine principles, reconstructive concepts, and technology on a truly patient-centered approach. I then of course built the most elite team of performance coaches, physical therapists, advance practice providers, and research scientists because without a team I am just holding on to a dream.

I am very proud of what we have built today and where we are going. The way we are taking care of elite athletes (as well as those who have unfortunately experience failed surgery) is a testament to our team’s focus on a truly patient-centered model. One use case was how Scot Prohaska and I applied concepts from both sports medicine and joint replacement to uniquely position Freddy Andersen, goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes, for a rapid return after injury. Since our surgery and rehabilitation program last year, Freddy has helped lead the Canes to the Stanley Cup in the months following our surgery.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Far from it. I quickly learned that not everyone is going to be happy for you. As a trainee, I quickly learned that no one really understood me or the clarity of my vision. Because I was great at research, technology, and business, I learned the inescapable perception would be that I had to have been compromising clinical excellence right? Surely, no one can be proficient in many things at once, right?

It took me many years and many tears to realize sometimes things aren’t always my fault. I was always quick to blame myself and find ways I could improve or please everyone. Well, professional jealousy is a very real thing in medicine that I found both my peers and my so-called teachers would act on. Betrayal happens. Hatred is real. Routine mistakes as a trainee for me were magnified to the point that I had “mentors” trying to sabotage my career before it began, even calling academic institutions in Los Angeles years before my training was complete just to make sure I wouldn’t get a job back home simply because I did not stroke the right ego. Prominent surgeons at prestigious institutions, who were supposed to be my teachers and mentors, spent more time talking about me than to me. Positions of power were used to try to hurt me and others. It was shocking to witness a so-called surgeon leader actively try to wreck my career all because of personal differences. I found out soon that I wasn’t the only young surgeon to be targeted in this field. I met more high performing surgeons, and all of them had experienced nearly identical trials and tribulations. At the end of the day, the patient care and the work speaks for itself. And I am proud of what my patients say about me, and I’m proud of the work I’ve put in. I’m not satisfied because there is more to be done, but I’m happy. I just wish I knew earlier that haters are very real, and I wish I met my actual mentors (like Drs. Riley Williams, Ben Nwachukwu, Bob Marx, Antonia Chen, Jeff Lange, Danyal Nawabi, Tom Kuivila, and Viktor Krebs) sooner rather than later.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a hip and knee surgeon who is dual trained in joint replacement and sports medicine. I specialize in getting humans back to the things they love, particularly sports and high demand life styles. Often times, patients come to me when they have had bad or failed surgery elsewhere and unfortunately need a revision – which is always more challenging both cognitively and technically. At this moment, I am particularly proud of my patient Freddy Andersen making it to the Stanley Cup a year after my surgery. My background is unique is because I’ve been at this since I was 12 and I blend both sports medicine and joint reconstructive concepts to be able to give patients both a short-term and long-term perspective on joint health. It also helps patients find a “one stop shop” for all issues hip and knee rather than getting lost between different specialists. This perspective lets me do the best for my patients who need advice on getting back to the things they love in a manner that will most reliably allow them to do it for as long as possible.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Performance needs to be rethought. Athletes aren’t getting back the way they should. We can do better. I’m committed to pushing this envelope.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ochipandknee.com
• Instagram: prem_ramkumar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/premramkumar?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits
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