My Career

My career

Medical training

Secondary education at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon (1954-1967). Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lyon (1968-1974). Former Resident of the Hospitals of Lyon (1976-1981). Assistant Head of Clinic in Orthopaedic Surgery (1981-1985) in Lyon under Professor Georges de Mourgues and in Saint-Étienne under Professor Gilles Bousquet.

Military service

In 1975, I left for 18 months as a volunteer in Gabon. Chief Medical Officer of the Akiéni medical centre, a bush village near the Congolese border, I was at once a doctor, anaesthetist, surgeon, and obstetrician… An unforgettable humanitarian adventure where the daily life of a bush doctor keeps you humble…

Specialising in shoulder surgery

My second adventure after Africa. In 1986, on the advice of my mentor, Professor Albert Trillat, I undertook, at my own expense, a shoulder fellowship in Toronto, Canada, then in New York, in the United States.

There I learned shoulder surgery, still almost non-existent in Europe. I also trained in shoulder rehabilitation, under Charles Neer II, the undisputed master of the shoulder worldwide, and his students Peter Welsh and Richard Hawkins.

The shoulder never left me again.

Founding, in Saint-Étienne, the first private unit specialised in shoulder surgery in Europe (1986-1999)

Between 1986 and 1999, another extraordinary human adventure began, shared with general practitioners, rheumatologists, radiologists and physiotherapists.

I wrote my first scientific publications and continued my training across the Atlantic, where, in the early 1990s, I learned arthroscopic shoulder surgery alongside Harvard Ellman and Stephen Snyder.

Elected a Member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons in 1986, then of the European Society in 1994, I organised a congress on the Rotator Cuff in Saint-Étienne in 1996, bringing together 700 specialists from around the world. The proceedings of this congress were published in a book, "The Cuff", written with two colleagues, Pascal Gleyze and Thierry Thomas.

I then trained my first students, an Italian and an Israeli, who have since become leading shoulder specialists in their countries. It was a period of exchange during which I welcomed many French and European colleagues who came to learn "modern" shoulder surgery.

Return to Paris, my native city

Before leaving Saint-Étienne in 1999, I left a record of the work carried out over 13 years in the book "L'épaule au quotidien". In Paris, I joined the Institut du Membre Supérieur, known worldwide, which allowed me to train young surgeons from Europe, Lebanon, Egypt, South America, Japan, China, and elsewhere.

In 2000 and 2005, I organised two congresses in Paris bringing together the world's leading shoulder prosthesis specialists and more than 1,000 participants. In 2006, I published a third book, "Rééducation et Chirurgie de l'Épaule au Quotidien".

Discovering China

In 2006, I was appointed Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where I had the privilege of teaching a series of courses on shoulder surgery.

Setting up shoulder units in the Middle East

From the 2000s onward, I set up specialised shoulder surgery units at the request of the authorities of various countries where I was invited to give conferences: Doha (State of Qatar), Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Muscat (Sultanate of Oman), Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

Another fascinating opening, allowing me to pass on my knowledge and practise my art in a culture marked by tolerance and friendship.

Creation of a Shoulder Centre at Dubai Hospital (2004-2013)

Associate Physician from 2006 to 2011 in the Orthopaedics Department of the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG)

Another period of mentorship began: alongside young Swiss surgeons in a large university department led by my friend Professor Pierre Hoffmeyer, I developed arthroscopic shoulder surgery and published scientific articles.

Shoulder surgeon in Switzerland at Clinique Genolier (Swiss Medical Network Group)

Since 2012, after Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Paris and many other destinations around the world, I have happily discovered the pleasure of practising my profession in a prestigious institution of international renown, set in an exceptional location above Lake Geneva, facing Mont-Blanc.

Currently, since November 2020, I am Shoulder Consultant at the Lozère Hospital in Mende (48000).