Testimonials : 2009

Edgardo, thank you for allowing to participate in the symposium. CLES was a wonderful opportunity for enthusiatic, skilled and knowledgable surgeons to exchange ideas and to learn from each other in an unpretentious, casual and comfortable enviorment. Lecture was fantastic as were the skill labs. The commraderie was wonderful and people I met there are people I would consider friends and collegues.

Jeffrey Y. Yung, DPM, FACFAS
Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University

I was really humbled by the quality of faculty and of the attendees, this is how seminars/symposiums should work. I learned from everyone there.

Bill montross

Dear all, I would to thank all of you for sharing your valuable experiences during this symposium. My sincere thank must go to Edgardo for giving me this great opportunity to share with you some of our recent researches at Dr Scholl’s college of podiatric medicine.

As an engineer, I learned a lot from this symposium and I feel now I have a better vision to orient better our researches in exploring various lower extremity complications. This is an interdisciplinary field and I am sure there is a lot we can accomplish by working together in the area of mutual interest. I very much look forward to meet you in another occasion and hopefully to expand our research in this area with your valuable collaboration.

Bijan Najafi, PhD
Assistant Professor and Director, Human Performance Lab.
Center for Lower Extremity Ambulatory Research (CLEAR)

Dear Edgardo, One more time – the course was FANTASTIC. Although it will be more and more difficult to make it better every year but we all will help you to make it happened.

Mikhail Samchukov, MD
Center for Excellence in Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Dept. of Pediatric Orthopedics
Texas Scottish Rite Children Hospital

Edgardo, what an incredible seminar. I never sit the whole day through lectures and I did !!! Just a great job, your hard work and dedication showed!

Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to present. You make your old teacher proud!

Howard Myles Kimmel, DPM, MBA
Director of Residency Training, DVA, Louis Stokes, Senior Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgery
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Hello All, I would like to extend my congratulations to Edgardo and the other co-chairs and faculty for another great symposium! I think everyone learned a great deal and were able to share some interesting cases and tips. Great job everyone! Looking forward to next years CLESS!

Michelle DeYoung
Assistant Residency Director Dept. of Surgery, Podiatry Section
Henry Ford Macomb Medical Center

Edgardo, I would like to congratulate you on another great event and wonderful training course.

Alex Cherkashin, MD
Center for Excellence in Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Dept. of Pediatric Orthopedics
Texas Scottish Rite Children Hospital

Edgardo, it was great meeting you and you guys put on a great meeting.

Brian Carpenter, DPM, FACFAS
North Central Texas Orthopaedics

The CLESS has evolved into THE TOP lower extremity symposium in the country. For those wanting to focus on lower extremity reconstruction, this is the course to attend. The course focuses on topics which challenge the lower extremity surgeon on a daily basis. An international faculty enlightens the audience with insight cultivated from years of experience, as well as introducing new technology and practical surgical techniques that one may incorporate into their clinical practice. After attending the course, my knowledge base is much stronger and I have strengthened my surgical armament.

Dr. Misako McLeod
Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Surgery
Kaiser Permanente - Santa Rosa

Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez,
My congratulations to you in providing a tremendous third annual Chicago Lower Extremity Surgical Symposium. Your collaboration with co-chairs, Dr. Chris Bibbo and Dr.Mitchell Goldflies, local, national and international multi-specialty surgeons, brings refreshing depth to the reconstruction of lower extremity pathology.

I thank you all for the continuing education essential in the growth of our young residents as some will carry on the challenge of managing trauma and complex deformities of the lower extremities.

The Orthopedic Learning Center provided optimum facility for the very interactive seminar and workshops. It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday. What a great gift to have essentially my own cadaveric limb and the many esteemed faculty and friends willing to share their experience. The essentials of surgery were reviewed introspectively in case presentations. From bracing and prosthetics, pain management, hardware internal and external, biomaterials, infection, systemic deficiency and disease, tissue care, neurovascular consideration, flaps, trauma, charcot foot and select topics of leg, ankle, rearfoot, midfoot, forefoot surgery.

I look forward to the fourth annual CLESS symposium.

M.C. Schlund, DPM

I have attended the Chicago Lower Extremity Surgical Symposium for the last three years. The meeting this year was the best to date. It was held at the Orthopaedic Learning Center in Rosemont IL which is conveniently located near Chicago O’Hair International Airport. The wet lab is exceptional with state of the art high definition cameras for real time visualization of the skill you are about to perform. The meeting atmosphere is very relaxed and the faculty is open to discussion following each lecture topic. The faculty is well respected in the foot and ankle community and come from all over the world to participate in the yearly meeting.

Shawn Hatfield DPM
Indianapolis IN

Thanks for a great conference again in 2009! The lab was fantastic with great hands-on experiences. The day after the lab, I was confronted with an acute achilles rupture with large defect--I was able to perform a strong repair of this rupture because of new techniques I learned in the lab. I never expected to use the new skills so soon. I appreciate the great experience and training.

Rod Stuck, DPM
Loyola Medical center

Thank you for inviting me to participate in the 3rd annual CLESS as lab and workshop faculty. The charcot topic is challenging and thought provoking. Both the faculty and attendees offerred thought inspiring discussions and ideas that may help some of our surgical challenges. This course more than any other I have attended shows the progress of our profession. There are many great forward thinking minds and I believe that this event gathers many of them together to teach and share their experiences and ideas. Thank you for all your hard work in putting together a unique conference in classic "Ego" style.

John Rachoy, DPM

The 2009 3rd annual CLESS (Chicago Lower Extremity Surgical Symposium) was a vastly improved lecture and workshop series over previous years. I would also argue that it rivals that of any other rearfoot reconstructive conference I have participated in during my 3 years of training and short time post-residency. With excellent instruction in my residency from both podiatric and orthopedic specialist, I believe receiving input and instruction from both the orthopedic and podiatric community is a vital aspect of becoming a well-rounded physician. The symposium offered a chance to converse and interact with some of the leading minds in orthopedic and podiatric rearfoot surgical fields from both the U.S.A. and International physicians as well. All of these physicians exhibited a willingness and eagerness to teach the young upcoming group of foot and ankle surgeons who will carry on and hopefully continue to evolve our surgical specialty. Having been part of a highly motivated and growing residency program in Chicago I always worry that these conferences will be completely redundant from my training. I believe CLESS re-inspired and challenged me to improve my skills and knowledge in the foot and ankle surgical field by incorporating multi-specialty lecture series and cadaver workshops with hands-on instruction from some of the best orthopedic and podiatric surgeons in the country.

Jonathan Brueggeman, DPM