Hand, Upper Extremity and Microvascular Fellowship

The objective of this program is to prepare a Board eligible orthopaedic surgeon for a career in upper extremity surgery. Training is provided in all aspects of hand surgery, including trauma, arthritis, congenital, tumor, and post-traumatic reconstruction. In addition, experience in microsurgical reconstruction, including free-tissue transfers and replantation, brachial plexus surgery, and reconstructive shoulder surgery, are also provided. This program offers extensive patient exposure, operative experience, and research time. The Department has a full-time research laboratory with adequate resources for participation in and production of research of quality for national presentations and publications. There is a fully equipped independent microsurgery laboratory for the use of the Hand Surgery Service within the Department laboratories. In addition, each fellow will spend one week in a microsurgery course with independent training. The hand fellow is hired at the PGY6 level. When on call, he/she will be considered the senior person responsible for hand injuries; however, senior staff backup will always be available. Elective surgery will be equally divided between the chief resident and fellow, however, when deemed educationally appropriate, advanced cases may be preferentially assigned to the fellow at the discretion of the service chief.

Other residents provide additional service for on-call, clinic and operative coverage when needed. Residents rotate on 3-month blocks. Clinical and surgical experience is always supervised with gradual responsibility offered to the fellow and chief resident. The fellow and chief resident are required in turn to teach and supervise one junior resident, although junior residents have access to and frequent contacts with attending staff.

• To become competent in all aspects of caring for upper extremity
• To develop teaching skills and instruct residents and medical students in diagnosis and treatment of upper extremity problems
• To participate in laboratory and clinical research and publish at least one paper in a peer review journal

Program Aims

• To stand at the leading edge of orthopaedic knowledge and research.
• Develop and employ novel educational methods to provide best-in-class learning opportunities.
• Enhance existing longitudinal curriculum with components dedicated towards musculoskeletal care
• Create mentorship opportunities through laboratory investigation
• Through a dedicated Microsurgery Skills Laboratory, will allow faculty and trainees to work individually and collectively on operative techniques.
• Outreach to the orthopaedic community at large to develop continuing educational opportunities to practicing orthopaedic surgeons, allied professionals and researchers.

Several conferences are provided throughout the year. Weekly Grand Rounds is devoted to upper extremity surgery on a rotating basis. Weekly teaching rounds are also conducted, followed by organized resident/fellow presentations so that within 12 months, the basic topics of hand surgery are discussed in a didactic fashion. Cadaver dissection material is provided, and didactic anatomy sessions of the upper extremity are required of fellows weekly. Fellows may attend other conferences within the department and hospital, such as tumor conferences, resident core curriculum, and trauma conferences.

The fellowship begins on August 1 and ends on July 31. Compensation for PGY6 is $93,567.63/year, with excellent benefits. 

Hand Fellowship interview dates for the 2025-2026 academic year are Feb. 18, and March 4, 2025.

For more information, please contact Delia Luna at dbluna@ucdavis.edu.