Compared with the other two branches of orthopedics, trauma and spine surgery, the artificial joint surgery represented by total hip and total knee has the characteristics of quick introduction, low threshold, and many intraoperative routine operations but few emergency changes, so after the development in recent years, it has now been widely carried out in major hospitals all over China. However, while thousands of patients have regained joint function, there are also many patients who have had unsatisfactory surgical results and have even developed new problems. So how can a patient with joint disease find an excellent specialist joint surgeon among the many orthopedic surgeons available? To answer this question, allow me to use an analogy. You went out today and bought three things, a pound of greens, a fashion item and a refrigerator. The greens went home and burned the night and ate it, the clothes may wear a year or two later also replaced, but the refrigerator is a durable consumer goods, ready to use for ten or eight years, after a period of time may be out of order, it needs good after-sales service and maintenance. In fact, the same medical treatment, cold and fever such as a small hair small illness, take some medicine a few days to get better, the end of treatment does not leave any after-effects. If you have a fracture, the fracture usually heals in a year to two years after surgery, the function is restored, and after the internal fixation is removed, it is almost the same as before the fracture. But after joint replacement surgery, it’s different. The artificial joint has to be used for life, and if something goes wrong in the middle, it may have to be replaced again. I use this analogy to illustrate an important feature of artificial joint surgery, which is the need for long-term clinical observation and follow-up after surgery. The purpose is not only to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the surgery, but also to detect problems and provide timely treatment. It is not easy to do this, because compared with the passive after-sales service of general commodities, the clinical follow-up after artificial joint surgery requires the surgeon to actively follow up the patient and make effective contact on a regular basis, even if no problems arise temporarily. Therefore, only surgeons who do this systematically are truly qualified joint surgeons. Many of the patients I see in the clinic for follow-up have been in pain and discomfort for many years since their joint surgery, and some have already experienced significant prosthetic loosening, wear and tear, and periprosthetic osteolysis. Although revision surgery is possible, the optimal time for surgery has often been missed. In general, there is a significant lack of attention to post-operative clinical follow-up of surgical patients in China. Therefore, it would be a blessing for patients to find a joint replacement surgeon who is skilled and who is serious about systematic follow-up after surgery. Another key to successful artificial joint surgery is careful preparation prior to surgery. If you don’t want to just buy a refrigerator, the salesman will select the best one for you based on your requirements, such as a pair of doors, a large freezer, and photosynthetic preservation. So the selection of the artificial joint is a key step in the preparation for the surgery, and the proper selection of the joint prosthesis directly affects the outcome of the surgery. In addition, the surgeon must also conduct a thorough evaluation of the patient, both holistically and locally, in order to understand whether the patient’s whole body condition is suitable for surgery and to estimate what possible problems will be encountered during the specific operation. As the old saying goes: sharpening the knife is the only way to be prepared for the surgical plan. A good joint surgeon will be sure to spend enough time in the preoperative preparation process to maximize the success of the surgery. However, the current situation is that many surgeons underestimate the intra-operative and post-operative situation and rush into action, sometimes taking their chances with the outcome of the surgery. Inadequate preoperative preparation leads to intraoperative complications or outright surgical failure. Returning to the title of this article, how does a patient choose a surgeon? The fact is that many patients are limited to finding a surgeon who will perform the surgery well, but this is the least important aspect of prosthetic surgery compared to preoperative preparation and postoperative follow-up. This is because, as I mentioned at the beginning, joint replacement surgery (except for complex ones) is generally performed in a step-by-step manner, with a low threshold of entry, few intraoperative contingencies, and little difference between good and bad surgical practices. Therefore, no significant difference in outcome can be seen in the short term after surgery (except in cases of obvious failure). However, “the road is far away”, the real success of the surgery depends on the long-term follow-up, and an excellent result after more than ten or even twenty years of follow-up will certainly depend more on the correct evaluation and careful preparation before the surgery, as well as the long-term persistent observation and follow-up after the surgery. We should keep this in mind, whether we are doctors or patients!