Dr Rael Salkinder completed a fellowship in knee arthroplasty and soft tissue surgery under the expertise of Dr Pieter (Spike) Erasmus in Stellenbosch over six months in 2014. Experience gained during the fellowship included primary and revision knee arthroplasty, ligament reconstruction and arthroscopic surgery.
Now established in his own practice at the Cape Town Mediclinic, Dr Salkinder continues to bolster his knowledge and experience through a hip and knee arthroplasty fellowship with Dr Garth Grobler and Brendon Dower at Vincent Pallotti and at Groote Schuur Hospitals.
While surgery is a passion of his, Dr Salkinder says he always explores conservative, non-surgical solutions, evaluating each case on its unique merits and thoroughly discussing all options with the patient.
He prides himself on being accessible to his patients, whether by telephone, email or text message. “Patients with these types of injuries and conditions are, understandably, emotional and bringing a personal touch to your interactions with them can go a long way to relieving some of the stress,” he says.
Located in Gardens, Dr Salkinder's practice is conveniently situated for patients from the greater Cape Town and the West Coast areas. He also welcomes patients from further afield in Southern Africa and abroad.
The son of a GP who also played provincial rugby, Dr Salkinder has inherited his father's twin passions of medicine and sport and in his free time enjoys road running (he has completed numerous half-marathons) and watching rugby, aswell as contributing to that sport by volunteering on the medical panel at the Newlands Rugby stadium.
He has been married to Lindy since 2008 and describes his daughter Kayla(4) as the "apple of my eye".
Dr Salkinder says he was always drawn to orthopaedics because of the hands-on nature of the vocation and the tangible results.
"It's tremendously to put your skills and knowledge to work on a debilitating injury and, within a relatively short period of time, see a dramatic transformation in a patient's quality of life," he says.