Hand & Upper Extremity Fellowship

Any resident who has completed an orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, or general surgery residency program is eligible to apply. The applicant must be eligible to obtain a medical license in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and meet all of the credentialing criteria of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and affiliated institutions.

To apply, interested applicants should submit:

1. Universal Hand Application (available on the ASSH website)
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. USMLE or equivalent
4. Medical school transcript
5. Four letters of reference, including one from your Program Director

The application deadline is November 15, 2023. Please note, applications that are incomplete will not be reviewed.

The Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship provides comprehensive and timely training for all hand and upper extremity pathology. There is a focus on diagnostic accuracy and on broad exposure to the full gamut of therapeutic options. There is ample exposure to trauma and post-traumatic reconstruction, treatment of arthritis, including small joint arthroplasty, arthroscopy and management of complex elbow pathology. The plastic surgery experience will include congenital hand and wrist as well as soft tissue flaps and microvascular surgery. 

Hand and Upper Extremity Fellows have three basic rotations incorporating faculty in a variety of clinical settings. Each rotation includes time spent with orthopedic and plastic surgery faculty. There are also opportunities for individualized electives. By providing exposure to diverse approaches to upper extremity pathology and creating a close collaborative environment between orthopedic and plastic surgeons, fellows graduate with a broad and innovative armamentarium allowing them to tackle the most complex surgical cases.

Rotations Include

Adult Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery at BIDMC and BID Needham

• Drs. Rozental and Harper

Adult Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery at BIDMC and HVMA

• Drs. Dolan and Kim

Adult and Pediatric Hand and Microvascular Surgery at BIDMC, BID Milton, and CHB

• Hear about this rotation from Dr. Taghinia (video)

Rotation Schedule

Case Volume

• Each fellow has an independent clinic, supervised by a faculty member, allowing continuity of care throughout the year.
• Fellows operate with graduated independence.
• Over the last 4 years, hand and upper extremity fellows have performed between 800 and 1200 annual cases each.

Fellow Responsibilities

Fellows are assigned to specific clinic and OR blocks depending on the clinical rotation. The team also includes a junior orthopedic surgery resident and a plastic surgery resident. Fellows are responsible for managing the service, daily rounding and supervising the residents.

Call is shared evenly among 3 fellows and includes BIDMC (level I) and BID Needham (level 3). There are no in-house call responsibilities. The call team also includes orthopedic and plastic surgery residents as well as an attending surgeon.

Fellow Didactics and Research

The Hand and Upper Extremity Service has a robust didactic and conference schedule.

Fellows are required to participate in at least one research project during their training. Presentations and publications are highly encouraged.

Funding is available for fellows to attend a microsurgery course at the start of the year and to attend one professional meeting of their choice.

View our Didactics Schedule.

Conference Schedule

Weekly conference indicated attended by all faculty, fellows and residents.

• Weekly Tuesday Classic article/Modern treatment conference. This forms the core of the didactics with 52 topics spanning the breadth of hand and upper extremity surgery.
• Didactics Schedule
• Weekly Thursday Indications conference.
• Monthly morbidity and mortality conference.
• Monthly Harvard-wide journal club.
• Quarterly cadaveric dissection workshops.
• Quarterly research meeting.
• Annual Arthrex Arthroscopy Lab, Naples FL

Faculty

Program Director: Carl Harper, MD (Orthopedic Surgery)

Associate Program Director:  Tamara Rozental, MD (Orthopedic Surgery)

Other Faculty

• Brian Schurko, MD
• Monica Shoji, MD
• Amir Taghinia, MD

Current Fellows

• Nicholas Genovese, MD – Residency, Rutgers NJMS, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
• Corinne Wee, MD – Residency, The Cleveland Clinic, Division of Plastic Surgery
• Ryan Xiao, MD – Residency, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Recent Fellows

2022-2023

• Andrew Bauder, MD – Navy Medical Center San Diego
• Gregory Frechette, MD – Plymouth Bay Orthopaedic Associates
• Kevin Zuo, MD, University of Toronto

2021-2022

• Brent Pickrell, MD, Los Angeles Surgery Specialists
• Jimmy Chan, MD, Sports Fellowship, Rush Sports Medicine
• Brian Schmidtberg, MD, Hartford, CT

2020-2021

• Brian Schurko, MD, Atrius Health Care
• Rikesh Gandhi, MD, Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic
• Swapnil Kachare, MD, MGH PRS Fellowship

2019-2020

• David Colen, MD, Yale School of Medicine
• Brandon Shulman, MD, OrthoConnecticut Coastal Orthopedics
• Amanda Walsh, MD, Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai

2018-2019

• Marissa Baca, MD, Straith Clinic, MI
• Hyuma Leland, MD, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, CA
• Jacob Tulipan, MD, Rothman Institute, Southern NJ

2017-2018

• Tracy Webber, MD, Norwood Hospital, MA
• Kevin Han, MD, Phoenix, AZ
• Michael Hendry, MD, Queen’s University, Kingston, CA

2016-2017

• Nicholas Caggiano, MD
• Aviram Giladi, MD, Curtis Hand Institute, Baltimore, MD
• Sammy Dowlatshahi, MD, BIDMC, Harvard Medical School, MA

2015-2016

• Michael Vosbikian, MD, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, NJ
• Carl Harper, MD, BIDMC Harvard Medical School, MA

2014-2015

• Janet Yueh, MD, Cohen Winters Plastic Surgery, NJ
• Michael Johnson, MD, The Vancouver Clinic, OR

2013-2014

• Michael Lin, MD, Alpine Orthopaedics Medical Group, CA
• Olukemi Fajolu, MD, Less Institute, FL