Dr.sc. Tomislav Čengić, is a specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology with a special interest in minimally invasive, arthroscopic surgery and reconstructive surgery and implantation of artificial joints.

He started his residence in 2011 at the Department of Traumatology of the University Hospital Centre “Sestre milosrdnice” in Zagreb and the Department of Orthopaedics of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, after which he passed the specialist exam in orthopaedics and traumatology. In 2014, he completed the specialist postgraduate study program in orthopaedics and traumatology at the School of Medicine in Zagreb. He defended his doctoral dissertation entitled “Impact of anteversion of cementless femoral component of hip endoprosthesis ‘Zweymüller’ on primary stability and propensity to periprostetic fracture – a biomechanical study on an artificial bone model” at the School of Medicine of the University of Zagreb under the mentorship of Professor Domagoj Delimar and Professor Janoš Kodvanj in 2021. This was an interdisciplinary study conducted at the Department of Orthopaedics of the School of Medicine and the Laboratory of Experimental Mechanics at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, the University of Zagreb. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka in 2009 and, after an internship at the University Hospital Centre “Sestre milosrdnice” Zagreb, he passed the professional exam.

While training abroad, in 2021 he worked at the Centre Orthopédique Santy, Lyon, France, where he studies techniques of arthroscopic and minimally invasive hip surgery under the mentorship of Dr. Mathieu Thaunat. In 2016 he spent time at the London Sarcoma Unit, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London, United Kingdom, under the mentorship of Professor Will Aston. In 2014 he was a clinical and research associate at the Clinic for Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Universitätspital Basel, Switzerland, under the mentorship of Professor Geert Pagenstert, and he worked as an associate at the Bone & Soft Tissue Sarcoma Centre, Universitäs-Kinderspital beider Basel, Switzerland, under the mentorship of Professor Fritz Hefti. In 2008, he spent time at the Department of Emergency and Intensive Medicine of the Hyogo Medical College in Japan as an international exchange student.

He has honed his surgical skills under numerous continuing medical education courses: 2019 - 5th International Knee Update, Davos, Switzerland; 2019 - Hip Revision Surgery Course with Anatomical Specimens, ICLO Teaching and Research Center, Verona, Italy; 2017 - 14th International Course of Arthroscopic Techniques, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2016 - Stryker Gamma3 and T2 Locking Nailing Course, University Hospital, Strasbourg, France; 2015 - Soft Tissue, Bone, and Skin Malignancies, Salzburg, Austria; 2015 AOTrauma Course- Approaches & Osteosynthesis, School of Medicine Graz, Institute of Anatomy, Graz, Austria; 2014 - 4th Advanced Knee Surgery Basel, Institute of Anatomy, University of Basel, Switzerland; 2013 - EFORT Instructional Course: Joint Preserving Surgery of the Lower Extremity, Basel, Switzerland; 2013 - Trends in Total Hip Replacement, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 2013 - AO Trauma Course- Advances in Operative Fracture Management, Zagreb; 2011 - Sports Medicine Symposium, The Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

He has won numerous scholarships and awards for innovation in medicine. In 2015, he was awarded the State award of technical culture Faust Vrančić for the 3D reconstructive pelvic implant tailor-made for the patient by three-dimensional titanium sintering. In 2021, he won the American-Austrian Foundation (AAF) Bone&Joint Fellowship organized by AAF and Weil Cornell Medical School, New York, USA. In 2014, he won the Musculoskeletal Tumour Fellowship organized by AAF and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA. Between 2003 and 2009, he was the recipient of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports scholarship for especially gifted students. In 2006, he was awarded the Rector’s award of the University of Rijeka, and in 2005, the award of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka.

Since 2014, he has been a member of the Osteoarthritis Research Center Basel with the research topic “The role of subchondral bone stem cells in bone remodelling”.

He is a lecturer at the Department of Anatomy and Physiology of the University of Applied Health Sciences in Zagreb. He has acted as advisor on several graduate theses. He has authored 3 university textbooks and over 20 scientific and professional papers. He is a member of the editorial board of the medical scientific journal Acta Clinica Croatica. He is a member of the Croatian Orthopaedic Society, the Croatian Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists, Osteoarthritis Research Centre Basel, EFORT (European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology), ESSKA (The European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy), and SICOT (Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopédique et de Traumatologie). Since 2010, he has worked as a doctor for the Zagreb Handball Club and the Croatian national handball team.

He is a fluent speaker of English and German.

Most significant publications:

Bianco D., Cengic T., Pagenstert GI., Forster-Horváth C., Valderrabano V., Hügle TJ. Osteosclerotic bone phenotype is stably imprinted in subchondral mesenchymal stromal cells in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Osteoar Cartilage. 2015 Apr; 23:131-132.

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