Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship

The BIDMC Harvard Orthopaedic Hand Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is a one-year ACGME post-residency fellowship training program.

As part of the fellowship experience, fellows have the opportunity to work with faculty from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Beth-Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham (BIDN), Children's Hospital Boston (CHB), Shriners Hospital for Children and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (HVMA). The fellowship offers a combined experience with dedicated time on both orthopaedic and plastics surgery rotations.

The program begins each year on August 1 and concludes on July 31 of the following year. The program participates in the National Residency Match Program, and is highly competitive. Applicant interviews are typically held on site in January, two years prior to the anticipated start date.

Application and Eligibility

Any resident who has completed an orthopaedic 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 applications should submit:

1. Universal Hand Application (available on www.assh.org after October 15, 2017)
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, 2017. 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 rotations will provide experience in congenital hand and wrist as well as soft tissue flaps and microvascular surgery.

Clinical Rotations and Case Volume

Hand and Upper Extremity Fellows have three basic rotations incorporating faculty in a variety of clinical settings. Each rotation includes time spent with orthopaedic 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 orthopaedic 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 BIDN.
• Adult Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery at BIDMC and HVMA.
• Adult and Pediatric Hand and Microvascular Surgery at BIDMC, CHB and Shriner’s Hospital
• Shoulder/Elbow Elective, BIDMC

Case Volume

• Each fellow has an independent clinic, supervised by a faculty member, allowing continuity of care throughout the year.
• A dedicated hand trauma OR block allows fellows to 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 orthopaedic 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 orthopaedic 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.

Conference Schedule

 

• Weekly indications conference attended by all faculty, fellows and residents.
• Weekly classic articles journal club.
• Monthly morbity and mortality conference.
• Monthly Harvard-wide journal club.
• Boston Hand Collaborative quarterly cadaver dissection course
• Monthly research meeting.

Faculty

Program Director: Tamara Rozental, MD (Orthopaedic Surgery, BIDMC)

Other Faculty

• Arriyan S. Dowlatshahi, MD
• Martin Dolan, MD
• Carl Harper, MD
• Mary Hochman, MD
• Matthew Iorio, MD
• Peter Kim, MD
• Samuel Lin, MD
• Arun Ramappa, MD
• Arnold Savenor, MD
• Amir Taghinia, MD
• Joseph Upton, MD

Recent Fellows

2006-07

• Jennifer Graham, MD, Kaiser Permanente, CA

2007-08

• Rebecca Bennett-Anderson, MD, Lakeshore Bone and Joint Institute, IN

2008-09

• George Mundanthanum, MD, Austin Orthopaedic Specialists, TX

2009-10

• Robert Waugh, MD, North Conway, NH

2010-11

• Gregory Byrd, MD, Olympia Orthopaedic Associates, WA

2011-12

• Irfan Ahmed, MD, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, NJ

2012-13

• Peyton Hayes, MD, Pro-Health Care Associates, NY

2013-14

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

2014-15

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

2015-16

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

2016-17

• Nicholas Caggiano, MD
• Aviram Giladi, MD

Contact Us

For questions and more information, contact:

• Lori Meady, Residency and Fellowship Coordinator, Department of Orthopaedics
  • ameady@bidmc.harvard.edu
  • 617-667-2133
• Geoffrey Brahmer, Fellowship Coordinator, Department of Surgery
  • gbrahmer@bidmc.harvard.edu
  • 617-632-9839