AHF Podcast
AHF Podcast
Look Back, Leap Forward. A Mid-Career Reflection with Dr. Khalid Yousuf
Join us in this episode of the AHF Podcast as host Joe Schwab sits down with Dr. Khalid Yousuf, an accomplished orthopedic surgeon based in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Yousuf shares his inspiring journey from his early struggles with choosing a career, to excelling in orthopedic surgery, specifically through the anterior approach total hip replacement. Learn about the pivotal moments, mentorship, and challenges that shaped his career. Discover the importance of thoughtful decision-making, lifelong learning, and the role of the Anterior Hip Foundation (AHF) in his development. Don't miss this insightful discussion filled with valuable advice for both new and seasoned orthopedic surgeons! 🏥💉🦴👨⚕️👩⚕️💪✨
This episode is sponsored by ZimmerBiomet. Visit https://www.zimmerbiomet.com for more information.
Hello and welcome to this episode of the A HF Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Schwab. Today we're honored to sit down with Dr. Khalid Yusef, an accomplished orthopedic surgeon, educator, and leader, to talk not just about what he does, but who he's become. Over the course of an evolving, and some might even say brilliant career. If you're in the middle of your journey in orthopedic surgery or if you're just starting out, this is an episode you'll wanna listen to all the way through. Dr. Yusef, welcome to the A HF Podcast.
Khalid Yousuf:Thanks for having me here, Joe. Uh, nice seeing you.
Joseph M. Schwab:Great seeing you. Before we jump right into the heavy stuff, how about you introduce yourself to our listeners, where you're based? Maybe tell them a little bit about your background.
Khalid Yousuf:Sure. Um, so my name's Kaha Yusuf. I'm in Dallas, Texas now, uh, in the suburbs of Dallas. I work with a large healthcare system and, uh, my journey, uh, like most was medical school, orthopedic surgery at University of Oklahoma. For residency, Mayo Clinic for fellowship. Joe and I met along this journey and, uh, kindled a friendship from that point. Uh, and then I took a job in Chicago, practiced there for five years, so we stayed. Uh, Joe and I stayed in touch. Uh, and then as Joe transitioned over the pond, I came down to Texas. I had some ties to Texas and it has been a great, um, uh, transition to my practice. So I've been in Dallas now for eight years. And, uh, that's also around the time I was introduced to the Anter Hip Foundation. Uh, and I'm sure we're gonna talk more about that.
Joseph M. Schwab:So tell me a little bit and tell our listeners a little bit about how you got interested in orthopedics in the first place.
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah. Um, being Pakistani, you know, you're kind of born with two options. You're gonna be a doc or engineer. Uh, and I really struggled with that. Um, I like the engineering side more. Uh, for sure. At the same token, my dad's a doc, uh, I have other family members that are docs, and I really was drawn to the human element of medicine. Um, and then, so I, you know, almost like by default, I didn't think too hard about medical school. I, uh, fortunate and was blessed to have good grades and kind of went down that path almost by default. But as soon as, uh, you start getting into that. A finish line of just, Hey, now I'm really gonna start medical school. The finish line of like the pre into the med school part, you start to say, I gotta pick what kind of doc I wanna be, and now the human element, uh, of illness and sickness and all the other parts come in. Um, and so very quickly, uh, conversations with my dad, other folks, um, uh, I was very confused. I mean, truly, honestly confused to the point where I was like, I don't think I should be a doctor. And fortunately for me, um, the second week of Gross anatomy lab, the orthopedic surgery residents would come into our cadaver lab, um, and uh, do the joint dissection of the cadaver just to kind of like show, um, the anatomy. And it was good for them'cause they were learning the anatomy themselves. It was good for medical students to learn from, uh, you know, others. And right away I was drawn to their, you know, that, that. That feel and excitement that they had about what they were showing us and teaching us. And, uh, lo and behold, that was my introduction to Ortho. Um, and specific, and it's a long-winded answer, but really I think, you know, that's how your life is shaped, is these little interactions that then make a, a amazing, you know, hopefully experience for you in your life. And it went from that to research in ortho. Um, and putting little EMG sensors and feline multifidus muscles to figure out how their spine works and what makes their spine hurt to grand rounds and other research opportunities. And, um, just, that's how I kind of all got started and I'm so grateful for.
Joseph M. Schwab:So given where you're at in your career now and what you've accomplished, uh, since that time, if you could sit down with that younger colleague and, and give him some advice or answer some of his questions, what would you tell him? I guess, what would you wish you would've known? That the people around you weren't telling you at the time, or it wasn't the information you were getting?
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah, that's a tough question. So, you know, I was. I don't know if I would've given him any different advice. I don't think he understood the, I don't think he understood the, the life he got placed into, you know, just he was lucky in that. And let me ex, uh, exp uh, expound on that a little bit. So I didn't get into med school one of my years, uh, for a little while. And so I was guided to go into business and I went in and gotten healthcare management, um, masters. And, uh, I, I think these opportunities that like sometimes seem like your life is ending and you're saying, man, I wanna be a doc and I didn't get into med school. My grades are good. Why didn't this work? Sometimes it's just not meant to be worked out, right? It's not the right time. So baking the best of what you have, I think, and to take that with a smile, which, uh, I'm not saying I always did, but at the same token, luckily for me, the people around me, the support sector helped me smile through it, put my head down, work through it, do the best at that opportunity. I think that's been the strength of mine that, uh, I do try to do the best at whatever sit situation I'm in. Um, even if I internally don't like it, uh, I know the outward product is. It gotta be my best effort. And uh, and so then, um, you know, you just dunno. So what did I learn through all those? Is that the business acumen I gained by going to business school? The idea of conversations with my dad saying, I know I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but now I realize the sick patient isn't the patient model. I might thrive in the hurt patient model is maybe the model I would thrive in. And understanding that there's. Doctors that take care of sick patients versus hurt patients. Um, and I think most orthopedic surgeons are better at the hurt patient, um, versus the sick patient. And, uh, understanding that very early on or having someone explain that to you,'cause as a student you don't understand, there's two different types of patients. Um, so those are the things I would tell the young college that, Hey, you, you got a curve ball thrown to you. Life isn't meant to be just a bunch of. Smooth, uh, straight sailing, um, you know, it's gonna have its bumps to just take it and do what you do. And when you, when you're hurt, you don't, you know, just talk to the people around you that support you. And because we all hurt at different times and it's okay to hurt you, just work through that.
Joseph M. Schwab:I haven't heard that distinction between the, the hurt patient and the sick patient that way. I think that's a, a fascinating way to think about. Not just patients, but different types of physicians. Right. What kind of physician you want to be? Um, I, I, I haven't heard it in those terms. Was there a moment in that early journey where you went from not just knowing what you wanted to do, but knowing that you were gonna be able to do it, um, knowing that, um, this was not just the career path that you were gonna choose, but that it was gonna happen for you? Or was that always, uh, a bit uncertain for you
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah, I think that question and, and the way I hear it, uh, for me puts me in residency. Um, and there was a time in residency where, you know, I was fortunate enough to have an autonomous or semi-autonomous residency experience and, um. I was able to, you know, um, nail a sub tr femur. Uh, it was a trauma case. I was, uh, you know, upper level on call faculty was there, but close by type there, there, you know, and to a, you know, and I, and I connected with the patient. So there's this, you know, so many aspects of that. A story in my mind is you, you connect with the patient. It's a tougher fracture. You have to open it. Um, and, and then. Successfully accomplished that. Um, surgery, that's when it culminated. And, and on that drive home, I was, you know, I'm o okay to say, you know, almost like teary-eyed that hey, wow, it's gone from where I couldn't even maybe, you know, do a vertical mattress suture to now I, I took this person who got in a car wreck, you know, and now myself. Reduced it. Fixed it, and you know, hopefully he'll have a union. Um, I didn't get follow up, you know, residency always get follow up. But, but the, but the point is that that was a transformative, uh, realization in my life. Uh, and uh, I think that's when it became, um, a reality that, hey, this is gonna happen. Uh, and, and, and soon enough I'll be a board certified orthopedic surgeon. And, and I, the responsibilities I should be able to. As long as I keep doing what I've done to this point.
Joseph M. Schwab:you know, we had a former chairman, uh, in, in my program who used to say nothing kills enthusiasm, like, follow up. So. A good thing you didn't get follow up on that patient. Right. That's just, you just run the risk of killing the enthusiasm.
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah, for sure. Tough university patients for sure.
Joseph M. Schwab:Yeah, for sure. Um, so then you end up at the Mayo Clinic with, um, a fellowship in adult reconstruction. Tell me about how you ended up in adult reconstruction when now you've gone from n knowing whether you want, uh, to deal with sick patients or hurt patients. To certain types of hurt patients. How, what was that like?
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah. And so that required for me, um, um, uh, a lot of my peers at in residency were saying, Hey, you're putting the cart before the horse. Course, but I honestly, um, for me, that's just how my mind was working. And it was, I was torn between spine joints, uh, maybe even trauma. I, I kinda liked some of the bigger surgeries that came with trauma.
Joseph M. Schwab:Mm-hmm.
Khalid Yousuf:And then, so I, I basically said I wanna live in Dallas, Texas. That was the goal at the time. And, uh, so kind of worked backwards and I said, Hey, what kind of jobs are out there in Dallas? And, and going back to. Circa 2010, right? Like joints was not as popular as it is today. And the, the patients were in hospitals for, um, at the VA for our rotation. They were at the hospital for easily three to five days. Um, and the, we had a great private practice experience as part of our residency. So even in the private sector, they were in the hospital for, uh, you know, one night for sure, maybe even two nights. Uh, the Medicare two night rule was like, you know, full effect, all these types of things. So the job market told me joints is gonna lead to maybe a better, um, uh, you know, salary and, and that type of situation. Um, having a family, uh, or having family of family doctors.'cause we have a lot of family doc in our pri uh, in our family, in the use of family. Um, and seeing how. They were always connected to patients. I think I always did better with, um, chronic, uh, patients, chronic ailment patients. From that standpoint, I bonded with them better, so I was drawn to, um, joints and spine for that reason. And then the surgery of joints, uh, just fit my, uh, like, um. My engineering mind a lot better. I, I, I really felt like, uh, I understand these concepts better. The materials are exciting to me'cause it was not being taught well at the time. To me, not, not a fault of the residency, but in na in general, we didn't understand metals and plastics and ceramics. So I liked reading about that and just understanding that. Um, and so that was the attraction, um, into joints. And then the business side of my mind really kicked into, and I don't think this is a negative, but the business mind, the mind said okay. If I do this operation well, uh, and one of my mentors did do it well, um, and efficiently. I was like, wow, he's doing, like at that time there was, you know, Charlie, uh, Charlie was probably not even in residency. He was probably in med school too. Yeah. Charlie's only four years ahead of me. So at that point, uh, Charlie maybe was in residency, I guess. Um, there's no 12 by 12, I mean Dr. Ache would do sticks in the day. And was doing very well financially. And, um, I looked up to him and I thought, man, I could do six of these a day also. Um, and that means x and that means, you know, paying off debt in school and all of that kind of stuff. So I said, why not do this? And my attention span, uh, is better for, you know, a good hour and a half'cause that's how long joints took about at that time, versus a three hour, you know, spine case or something like that.
Joseph M. Schwab:or a five hour trauma
Khalid Yousuf:again, a lot of reflection I made. I'm very deliberate with my decision that I'm grateful for that. Sometimes I'm slow making my decisions. Um, but those deliberate thoughts and conversations with people led me to joints and that's kind of what led me to
Joseph M. Schwab:this is, it's interesting you mentioned this,'cause this is what always struck me about you. Um, in, uh, when we first met each other, uh, on, I, I think even looking at residency programs, right? We were, we were interviewing for residency programs together was how thoughtful and deliberate and contemplative you were. Um, and I, you know, the. Uh, in one sense that could be viewed as making, um, decisions slowly in another sense. Like that's kind of what you want in a doctor who's you're putting, you know, a portion of your livelihood in their hands. So that was something that always struck me about the way you approach things and, and one of those areas that we reconnected in. Was you were a few years into your practice before you decided to do anterior approach, total hips. Tell me a little bit about that. That must have been a deliberative process for you as well.
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah, for sure. So, um, Rob Trusdale, who many know, um, just amazing surgeon, right? Such a charismatic individual. I really am grateful that he taught me so much and was part of our life. I wrapped up fellowship with his rotation near the end by design. Everyone spoke highly of him and I didn't want to rotate with him early on'cause I wanted my hands to be better. I wanted the program to know me better, so I get to have more autonomy, especially at a place like the clinic where autonomy, something is you really gotta earn your chance at autonomy, rightfully so. So, um, I wrap up. I'm doing, you know, it's, hi, uh, it's him for six weeks and PAGs for six weeks. And I'm saying, man, I'm a posterior approach. This is it. These guys are master surgeons. And Robbie just said, Rob goes, so what do you think of anterior approach? Because I'd done Mike ton's rotation prior. Mike's a amazing individual and great up and coming leader now, and just great guy. And at that time. Even in his first two years, he, you know, got me through anterior approach and helped me, taught me so much. I mean, so much of it all started with m right, and I gotta give him credit. So, uh, a Trusdale said, you, you do the approach you end your rotation with, and. So that's what, you know, um, he said that just'cause you're most comfortable, you're gonna leave and this is gonna be your memory and you're gonna go into practice and that's what you might do. So, um, my other co-fellow, Nate Nelms was at the meeting this past year and Nate's amazing, smart individual, and Nate was all in on the anterior approach. Jamie, the other co-fellow was all in on the anterior approach and I was like, I don't know. I'm not sure. So go. Uh, so that's where I ended. Now, I did go 50 51st year out. So full disclosure, first year out I was 50 50. And um, ironically, I did the hard hips from the front. And so everyone said, why are you doing the hard hips from the front? Again, my crazy mind said, the hard hips are the ones that. I don't have a pa, I get like a hospital assigned, you know, retractor holder and they don't know how to control the thigh and the leg and it's hard for me to bro, but they can hold retractors when they're on the other side of the bed. And so, um, so the approach which is harder for me at that age, the releases, which are harder for me at that point in my career. Are me problems I can fix me problems I can't fix, Hey, hold the leg this way, or be intuitive and know that I'm doing this or do that. You know?'cause your body's moving this way and you're like, today my PA just looks at how I stand. She knows, okay, move this way'cause he's doing that. I didn't have that luxury, that and so, so hard hips anterior approach. So my hips, my anterior approaches were like two hour, you know, um, just challenges, but good outcomes. Um, that's how I did it. So for me it was 50 50'cause couldn't go through a day of multiple hips that were two hours long for me at that time, but got better and better and better. So that was that. Again, thinking through the process and solve the problems that are in your control. Maybe don't worry about the problems that are not in your control. It's, um, what I would teach to the audience or remind the audience that's listening to this podcast, we get so caught up on, you know, other people's problems and that's not our problem's. Just do, do you?
Joseph M. Schwab:Right, right. My, uh, my wife was reading a book called, I think it was called Let Them, and it was about, uh, you know, when other people get worked up and tell you what you should do. All right. Let'em, let'em tell you, you know, let, let them get worked up. That's just fine. So in that journey of you becoming an anterior approach predominant surgeon, um, you reached out to the anterior hip foundation, and if I'm mis if I'm, unless I'm mistaken, you pioneered the idea of the traveling fellowship for the a HF You were the f essentially the first or one of the first formal traveling fellows for the a HF. Isn't that right?
Khalid Yousuf:I, I, um, I think I was the inaugural traveling fellow, and I think the idea came again. Having a connection with you and Charlie. The idea was, so I came to the meeting and really, um, enjoyed the meeting. And then as I went home, so probably at this point in my career, I'm um, um, probably 70 30 inch here posterior. Um, and really it was only 70 30 at that point because of limitations and resources at the hospital. So if I had two, if I had two rooms, I had one table. It was hard to like move the table and that kind of stuff. So, so I would still do posterior, but for sure I didn't do revisions posteriorly and I wanted to. And I was transitioning my practice from a, uh, purely employed hospital practice in Chicago to a private emic practice in Dallas, uh, at Baylor. So the Baylor in Dallas is different than the Baylor in Houston. The Baylor in Houston's a big academic center at the Texas Medical Center versus the Baylor in Dallas is a more of a, uh. PRI private demo is what we would call it. We've got residency, we've got, uh, a foot and ankle fellowship. Um, but you can also just be a employee of Baylor as an orthopedic surgeon. Just do that life if you want, or you can have what I have, which is, uh, exposure to, to residents, uh, uh, which I enjoy. So this transition's about to happen and I'm coming to a new market and, uh, everything is. Bigger, faster wilder in Texas. So I knew I didn't want to come into this market, um, and not be, uh, the best, uh, surgeon I can be. And, and I wanted to take some time at that point to, to get better. And that doesn't happen from textbooks, I don't believe. I think it's very important to take the time and go travel and, and reflect and learn and, and have those inter meaningful interactions with. Other leaders in this space. Um, so, uh, fortunately I talked to Joe, uh, I talked to you and, and, uh, and basically said, I've got this idea that I wanna travel, but, um, I can go do a visitation with a industry sponsor trip. I can go do that on my own. Um, but I don't wanna just do it that way. I wanna make it more formal. Um, that's what I want. I want it, I want it to be a line item on my CV that I really put the time into it, which deserves the, the memorialization of it on, on a resume. So we worked through all of that, that goes into that. We, uh, you guys helped me identify people like Nick Maths, that, you know, the name was very, uh, known to me through literature, but I didn't know him personally at all, and his name was given to me. Of course Dr. De Cook, Jonathan, you asked me is Charlie, who, who now all three are so close to me. Um, you know, their names were given to me. Tom Bradbury, what a great guy and stud surgeon. Um, but, you know, a deficiency of mine. But I didn't know him at the time. I didn't know his name, his literature, but you guys introduced me to him. Um, George Gale, I mean he, George was a year behind me at LSU. Um, but we didn't know each other well.'cause George was out there partying of course, as you would know, and, and driving fast cars. And I don't, I don't wanna say he's married now, but maybe chasing women. Who knows, right? I don't know. But I didn't know him at that time, even though he was a year behind me at LSU and Katrina. The years you get to know your, the junior class in the senior class, like the, the two years that get to know each other is the clinical years. And in my clinical year, I got shipped out'cause Hurricane Katrina hit. So I really didn't get to bond with them. And I meet him at that trip and we connect and say, Hey, wow, we're both at LLU. We're both from New Orleans. Like what a small world. And learning how to do hip resurfacing from the front, which is what he taught me. I mean, these were the interactions I gained in that traveling fellowship. So formative for my career. Honestly, I think put me on the map.'cause at that point, um, I'm being asked to talk about anterior approach, how I do revisions from the front of coming back and doing things that are uncomfortable again, but better for patient care and working through that. So, so that is really when you're all in now, right? You can't go be the anterior hip fellow, the first one and then come back and say, Yeah, I'm gonna book a poster approach. But no, it doesn't work that way. You're all in, everyone knows you took time off work. Um. My partners knew I went and did this. They're excited and they're saying, wow, you, you're, let me send you this VMI 50. You're gonna do it from the front. And I'm like, Yep. I am bikini incision from the front. You know, let me send you this revision. And I'm like, yep. Uh, your pelvis looks good on the backside. I don't think I need to get back there. Everything's in the front. I'm gonna go through the front. I can use fluoro to my advantage. I can take that new cup out, keep my hip center where I want. It's not blind for me. Absolutely. You know, then you're presenting it in residents or. They're looking at you always keeping you honest. And um, so that was such a, that 12 months meant a lot happened for me in 20 17, 20 18, um, sorry, 27, uh, 20 18, 20 19. A lot happened for me in those 12 months. Um, um, so very grateful for that opportunity and highly, highly, highly recommend all surgeons. Probably every six years, five years, maybe even. You should stop. It takes some time to go watch other people learn from other people. Um, and specifically like the Anter Foundation, we have such a great opportunity now. We take four fellows a year. Um, it's international flavored. I mean, it's, it's just a great opportunity for, for anyone who's trying to get better at their craft. Um, you know, another thing that comes to mind, I think you're gonna appreciate this joke. We're surgeons, right? We call each, we we, we are surgeons. Absolutely we're surgeons, but in a way we're artisans, right? We, we are crafting something. So if you go back to like the Renaissance and you wanted to learn how to make the best like arm law, you'd find the guy who makes it the best and learn some skill sets from him. And then what if you figured out that, hey, there's someone else who makes really good metal hinges. And because your arm wall's gotta have doors, then you go to like this metal guy and learn how to like craft metal.'cause you want your door handles to be more intricate and um, and the hinges to be just seamless and soft clothes or whatever. I don't know, I'm just, well I picked Armo wall. I don't even know I picked our arm wall, but my, that's the example that comes to mind right now that we are artisans would wanna learn our craft from the best. So I think the point of my career I'm at now is I talk to certain people when I see them. About, you know, cup and I really think they understand the cup so well and I wanna know about the cup from them. And then there's others I run into and I say, Hey, talk to me about femur. Others I talked to about approach, uh, others. I talked about bearings and implants and get to that. I'm excited about that phase in my career where I'm at, where I'm trying to say, Hey, you are the artisan of acetabular, you know, understanding. I wanna learn that from you.'cause the best version of me is a, is a combination. I'm very proud of my Pakistani heritage, so I'm not gonna call it Jamal. I'm gonna call it Biani. So the biani, which is rice and spice and meat and everything in one pop and tastes amazing. If you haven't tried it, you should go try some biani tonight. But, uh, uh, you can't just get from one person. You just can't. You gotta get your best. Bani is gonna happen when you go pick up everything from everyone different, sorry for the long answer, but
Joseph M. Schwab:no, I uh, I love it. It's fantastic. Um, as you've gained that experience, did your definition of success change?
Khalid Yousuf:Uh, Yeah. I think, uh, yes. I think the answer is yes. Uh, have I reflected upon that at that time? I, I'm sure I did. Right? Success at that time was measured in terms of, um, big picture things. I was measuring my success of. Hey, did I accomplish this revision from the front and dysplasia, which was scary for me, and I was seeing a lot of dysplasia, and so it was very, um, uh, uh, success. Uh, I measured success when Charlie and Jonathan would respond back to my post-op x-rays because I would shoot on my pre-op x-rays and say, this is my challenge. Can I do this from the front? Question number one, the answer sounds so obvious right now. Yes, you can do it from the front, but at that time it wasn't obvious. You know, that was the reality. And that was a, again, a me thing. Like, Hey, can I,'cause they'd met me, they'd worked with me. So the question was very. And I think that's so important when people say, can I do this? I don't know you yet. I don't know if you can do it yet, you know, but those guys knew me and they were saying, I know you, I know you can do this from the front. And that is so powerful. And, and again, I, I would, I wish everyone have people like that in your life. Um, um, even your spouses, I hope are doing that for you in your life. You know, be that for your kids, right? Hey, I know you can do that. You know,'cause I know you really well. Now I would go do it and, and then they would be honest with me and say, why did your cup end up where it ended up? Could have been lower. No, it couldn't have been. Well, tell me why you think it couldn't have been And that reflection was such a, a helpful thing. So I magic success like that for sure. At that point. And then I measured success with referrals because when non Baylor doctors in Dallas were calling me saying, I have a problem. I've heard about you and I wanna send this to you. Can you help this person? I felt like that was success. Like these two things. I, I think I was measuring success with these two readily, real time, um, uh, weekly, monthly, you know, at that time for sure.
Joseph M. Schwab:You mentioned that you're always working to get better, um, always working to make yourself a better surgeon to learn more. What's, what's the motivation, um, to pushing yourself toward becoming the best version of of you
Khalid Yousuf:Uh, yeah, I think probably again, family, right? Two parts of the family. One, I think, uh, my dad. The sacrifices that he made, the sacrifices that my mom made to get to this country and being an immigrant family, um, I think, um, means so much was put into me. And so what's gonna, you know, what's the product of that? And that product better be really good. So that pressure, uh, I put on myself, I think is, um, um, part of it. And now I got, um, now on the other hand, there's, uh. There's a potential echo chamber, right? Those are your kids. So are they gonna echo? I I and I definitely, um, I don't have any pressure on them. Hey, you need to be an orthopedic surgeon, or even a physician for that matter. But for sure the echo that I would love to see. Is they are the best, best version of themselves. We all want that for our family and kids and, and people around us that we love. And so actions are what make that happen and verbalizing that commitment, I think it's so important to verbalize that intent. For me to come out here and say that to you, Um, in a vulnerable space and do that puts me on the spot, right? Same thing like going on the anterior foundation. You verbalize that commitment. Not everyone knows your intent. You gotta, you know, shut up or put up, right? And so at that point, like, you know, I, I love these things, right? Um, uh, and so these are the types of things I think that motivate me to be the best version of me. And for sure, we can never forget the patients that entrust in us that, you know, we, that they, they need care. And they, they truly, honestly say, you know, I trusted you. Please help me. There's a lot to that one simple sentence when they say, I trusted you. Trusted you for what? Just that 30 minutes to do the hip or trusted you that the journey you've taken to this is the best version of you today. Hence the next 30 minute operation will be the best output. Right? And that's how I hear that question.
Joseph M. Schwab:Um, if you could, so first of all, I want to thank you for your time. You've been more than generous with us, and as always, your ability to be contemplative, to be thoughtful and um, to be measured and well-spoken and, and defend what you say. I, I, I always, it's one of the things I appreciate the most about you and have appreciated about. Our friendship, the, the, if I could ask one last question. If you could write a note, um, to the next generation of orthopedic surgeons and, um, leave it in every or locker room all around the world, what would it say?
Khalid Yousuf:Hmm. So the surgeons in the or I would say? turn a tough problem into a simple problem. Um, it's what I told myself repeatedly. Every time I saw revisions and they were hard and I turned a revision, I, I wanted to turn that revision into a primary. Um, so turn simple problems into, uh, turn tough problems. Into simple problems.
Joseph M. Schwab:Not the other way around.
Khalid Yousuf:yeah, Not the other way around. Absolutely. I hope, I hope what they take from that is, you know, when you're seeing, if you're a trauma guy and you see a bunch of pieces, make'em into combination of pieces and, and, and, you know, six turns into four, it turns into two type of thing. If you're doing a, a primary hip, break it down into, let me get my approach right. Let me get my cut right, let me get my exposure, you know, releases. Right. Simplify it in your life and, and, and do that. Um. Then I would tell, uh, if I could leave a message to, to anyone or something I share with everyone is you just really can't be the best at everything. And so just remember for every, everything that's a yes, something's a no, and it's okay to pick your top, you know, three, four, or five things. Be the best at those, right? And so, uh, prioritize those, verbalize those intent. Be intentional in the things that you do. And I think, um, uh, at the end of the day, at the, I hope that you're, uh, happy with, uh, what you're doing at that point
Joseph M. Schwab:What
Khalid Yousuf:and love the people in your life. I think friendship is such, I mean, that's, this is where this all comes from, friendship and, and sincerity. So I appreciate you for just having me on here and, and love the people in your life for that.
Joseph M. Schwab:I, I, uh, I said it was one last question, but I, I lied and I actually, you, you made me think of another one. So for all the things, tell me the number one thing that you wanted to say yes to, and the number one most difficult thing you had to say no to
Khalid Yousuf:Eh, ally, it's a easy question. My mind goes to non-orthopedic there, but, but orthopedically, it's easy. I really wanted to say yes to shoulder replacements. um, really wanted to do shoulder replacement. The, the, the 12 by 12 to in my world was, uh, Dr. Sperling at the Mayo Clinic shoulder guy, and he would do 18 shoulders, uh, on an operative day. And so 18 shoulders, um, that's not me. Uh, sorry. So I'll pause and go back. So the, the, the Charlie in my life before Charlie's 12 by 12 was Dr. Sperling at the Mayo Clinic. He was a shoulder arthroplasty surgeon and he would do 12, uh, 18 shoulders on an operative day. And, uh, and I just saw how well oiled his machine was. The average shoulder replacement was about 20 minutes for sure. He had resources like fellows and three rooms and all that kind of stuff, but. I saw efficiency and I really love shoulders and unfortunately I had to say no to shoulders, uh, in our practice because of how it's, that's the first thing that's to know that was hard to do, um, in life. Um, I think I had to say no to Chicago. That was really tough. I'm a big Chicago guy. I love Chicago, and I had to say yes to my career. Um, and so Chicago, I've got family. I love the Chi Chicago, I love the Midwest. I love Chicago itself. Um, uh, and uh, I was there just two weeks ago and, um, to say no to Chicago because I'm saying yes to my career, my practice, my passion, my love for that, um, was really tough. But. Said, um, I said yes to the thing I love the most, which is, uh, hip and knee surgery in my, in my practice. Um, which meant I said no to Chicago. So those are my kind of answers I guess. You got me thinking I day about this one now. Yeah.
Joseph M. Schwab:well you'll, you'll find the video. You can always leave it in the comments below afterwards, right.
Khalid Yousuf:Yeah. Don't be surprised. I might.
Joseph M. Schwab:And any updates are always appreciated. Well, uh, Dr. Yusef, um, it's been too long since we've seen each other in person, but I really appreciate having the opportunity to talk with you today and again, to get to experience your thoughtfulness, your, your, your measured attitude, um, and, um, just be able to enjoy our friendship for a, a, a couple of minutes here.
Khalid Yousuf:Joe, thanks for having me. It's an honor to be, uh, involved with the Your Hip Foundation. Uh, I highly, highly support the traveling fellowship and the work that you guys do. Um, thank you so much and I hope everyone has a great weekend the rest of the weekend.
Joseph M. Schwab:Alright, thanks. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the A HF Podcast. As always, please take a moment to like and subscribe so we can keep the lights on. And keep sharing great content. Please also drop any topic ideas or feedback in the comments below. You can find the ahf podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or in any of your favorite podcast apps, as well as in video form on YouTube slash at anterior hip foundation. All one word. episode of the A HF Podcast come out on Fridays. I'm your host, Joe Schwab, asking you to keep those hips happy and healthy and contemplative.
