The fellows participate in approximately 2100 operative cases each year and take an extremely active role in as many cases as possible. Since the Department has a large and active residency program, the fellow is expected to teach and direct the resident staff in both the hospital care of inpatients and the clinical care, both operative and nonoperative, of outpatients. In addition to participating in the care of the private office patients, a very active hand clinic is overseen once a week in the Rhode Island Hospital. The fellow is responsible for a large portion of the clinical responsibilities encompassed by this clinic practice with the assistance of the resident staff and one of the staff surgeons.

The Division of Hand, Upper Extremity and Microvascular Surgery is involved in the care of all hand and upper extremity problems encountered at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Providence. The fellow is responsible for assisting the resident staff in operative procedures that are undertaken at the VA Medical Center one day every one to two weeks.

In general, the fellow spends 3 months with each attending surgeon. There are two full-time residents on the service at all times and the fellow is directly responsible for their duties in clinical care of patients. During a typical week, the fellow will undertake approximately two days of patient evaluation in the office or clinic in conjunction with one of the staff surgeons, two days of operating, and one day of clinical and basic science research. There is some flexibility to the schedules which can be modified to meet the needs of the fellows and residents with regards to unusual operative procedures, or the particular demands of a basic science research project.

There are daily conferences including: case discussions,  practice management, Journal Club, a combined conference with plastic surgery, Orthopedic Grand Rounds and a monthly hand research conference.

The Division maintains an active research laboratory currently staffed by a lab co-director and research assistants on a full-time basis with several Brown undergraduates, medical students and residents undertaking projects concurrently. It is mandatory for the fellow to become involved in his or her own research project related to hand and upper extremity surgery during the year. Ample support for supplies and equipment as well as technical support is available in both the Division's Laboratory as well as orthopaedic research laboratories in general. Our goal is for the fellow to have one or two comprehensive projects completed by the end of the year which would be suitable for presentation at a national meeting and subsequent publication. The fellowship places an important emphasis on academic productivity and we expect the fellow to complement the goals of the fellowship as well as improve their own basic science skills.

There is a microvascular training lab on campus fellows and residents have access to to refine their microvascular skills.

The fellowship supports three fellows each year.  The salary is determined by level of training (PGY year) and in accordance with the Rhode Island Hospital Department of Graduate Medical Education. Additional compensation is available including, but not limited to, health, dental, life insurance and disability insurance. The fellow is allowed to attend the annual meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand at no cost. An allowance is provided for the purchase of loupes, photographic equipment and the use of photographic development services, if appropriately requested and required. The fellowship year is from August 1 to July 31 of the following year. Two weeks of vacation are provided (not including the meeting trip) and some flexibility is available should job interview requirements arise.

Every effort will be made for the fellow to leave as an expert in hand and upper extremity surgery with the ability to undertake significant clinical and basic science research in the future. We are interested in individuals who plan on being active academically in their future careers and who wish to add some form of knowledge back to the principles and practice of hand and upper extremity surgery.

Application to the Hand Surgery Fellowship requires electronic submission of the following via the American Society for Surgery of the Hand website.  

• Universal Hand Surgery Fellowship Application
• Three Letters of Recommendation
• Copy of Medical School Transcripts
• CV 
• Personal Statement
• Current photograph

Fellowship Alumni

Audrey Bell
Phone: 401-457-1567
abell@universityorthopedics.com