Hand Fellowship

The Hand and Microsurgery Fellowship at BIDMC is a one-year ACGME post-residency fellowship training program. It has been in existence since the early 1990’s. This fellowship is now formally merged with the Orthopedic Fellowship to become one BIDMC Combined Orthopedic-Plastic Surgery Hand Fellowship Program, with a full complement of 3 hand fellows.  As part of the fellowship experience, fellows have the opportunity to work with hand attending faculty from BIDMC, Atrius/New England Baptist Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, and the Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston.

Fellows spend dedicated time on the hand plastic surgery service, as well as the orthopedic service. OR cases and clinic experience is available at the New England Baptist Hospital.

The program begins on August 1 and ends on July 31. The program participates in the National Residency Match Program, and it is highly competitive. 

Eligibility

Any resident who has completed a plastic, orthopedic, or general surgery residency program is eligible for the fellowship. The final applicant must be eligible to obtain a medical license in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and meet all of the credentialing criteria of the BIDMC.

Program Goals

The goal of the Hand and Microsurgery Fellowship is to train fellows in the art and science of upper extremity pathology and surgery. The fellowship provides comprehensive training in the medical treatment of the upper extremity. It helps the trainee to refine his/her competence and to demonstrate proficiency in the preoperative, operative, and postoperative management of all types of hand surgery including innovative microsurgical approaches and techniques, wrist arthroscopies, wrist and hand arthroplasties, acute trauma, bony and soft tissue reconstruction procedures, and minimally invasive hand surgery.

Hand fellows are responsible for the care of patients with a wide range of degenerative, traumatic, idiopathic, and congenital and microvascular conditions of the upper extremity. Through close supervision and progressive responsibility, fellows are taught the necessary diagnostic, clinical judgment, and technical skills to carry out a complete range of medical and surgical treatment for the upper extremity. They are also taught to be compassionate and to effectively communicate with patients and their families, observing the highest level of ethics in all of their professional relations.

In this program, the fellows obtain extensive experience in the treatment of pediatric hand surgery, as well as congenital anomalies. Basic and fundamental surgical principles are emphasized as a way to address the most complex surgical problems. Throughout the year, there is an emphasis upon the importance of surgical planning and assessment. Complex cases are analyzed through multitude of approaches. Tri-dimensional and creative thinking, as well rigorous technical aspects of microsurgery are taught.