Life As a Hand Surgery Fellow

The Mary S. Stern Fellowship was established from Dr. Peter Stern’s passion and dedication to teach the science of hand surgery to young surgeons. The Fellowship officially began in 1987 staffed by the original three founders, doctors Stern, McDonough, and Kiefhaber. The staff has now grown to seven teaching physicians with an even broader curriculum and a teaching laboratory. The Fellowship has grown to attract outstanding residents from around the US.

History and Philosophy
The philosophy of the Mary S. Stern Fellowship remains constant and is at the core of all decision-making. We believe that it is critical for physicians to understand the “why” and not just the “how” of hand surgery. It is truly a science that must be thoroughly understood for quality patient care. Learning the art of diagnosis and conservative non-surgical management is as important as mastering surgical techniques.

Critical evaluation and scientific analysis is also core to our philosophy. Our Fellows are challenged to contribute to the advancement of Hand Surgery through laboratory research, clinical research, and to present their findings at scientific meetings. The Fellows are taught that the commitment to hand surgery is a life-long pursuit in which they can find honor and purpose. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive education in hand and upper extremity surgery. It is anticipated that the Fellow will devote the majority of his/her practice to hand and upper extremity surgery. Finally, we encourage our Fellows to successfully complete the examination leading to a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hand Surgery and become an Active member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Life as a Hand Surgery Fellow

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Conferences 6:30 am

Problem Conference

 6:30 am

SCS Conference

 7:15 am Orthopaedic Grand Rounds 6:30 am

Selected Readings

 6:30 am

Didactic Lecture
Stern Service AM – Stern OR

PM – Stern Office

 AM – Stern OR

PM – UC Hand Clinic

 AM – Stern Office
Fellow Office

PM – Stern Office

 AM/PM – Stern 0R

at HSC or GSH

 AM – Stern OR or Holmes OR

PM – Research
HSS Staff/Kiefhaber Service AM/PM Reilly OR
Or
Kiefhaber OR		 AM/PM McDonough OR

AM/PM Kiefhaber OR
Or
Reilly OR

 AM – Fellow Office
PM – 2x mo. Kiefhaber or Markiewitz Office (Montgomery) Alternate Research		 AM/PM Fassler OR
Kiefhaber OR
University Service
(University Hospital/ CHMC/ Shriners

AM – Foad OR
PM – Foad OR		 AM – Holmes Stern

PM – Ortho Clinic UC (2nd & 4th Tues)

Brachial Plexus Clinic CHMC

(1st & 3rd Tuesday)

 AM/PM Foad or Yakuboff OR
at CHMC		 AM/PM

Foad – Beacon (OR)
Alternate

AM – Cornwall-Liberty Clinic

PM – Cornwall – OR

 AM – Holmes OR

PM – Research

Didactic Education
This fellowship emphasizes a didactic educational experience. Each week there are several conferences, including:

  • Problem Conference: This consists of case presentations by fellows, residents, and staff using a PowerPoint format.
  • SCS: This conference is given at the University by Dr. Stern and consists of Socratic discussions of problem hand cases.
  • Selected Readings: Each week 6-7 classic articles are reviewed with staff on a specific topic. Every 6th week, there is a Journal Club.
  • Didactic Conference: Specialty lectures are given by the staff from Hand Surgery Specialists and the University of Cincinnati.
  • Gross Anatomy Laboratory: Once a month, we have an anatomy laboratory conference. After reading about the anatomy of an upper extremity region, the fellows dissect a fresh specimen. The attendings and fellows then spend a morning reviewing the dissection and discussing areas of clinical importance.
  • Visiting Professors: Two times each year, a visiting professor joins us for a day of case presentations and lectures.
  • Annually there is a one-day meeting with the Louisville and Indianapolis Hand groups (Tri-State Hand Meeting). The fellows make at least one presentation and there are 2-3 faculty panels.

Clinical Education
As the fellow gains experience in the management of hand and upper extremity problems, he/she is given progressive responsibility. This is accomplished by teaching through exposure to a large volume of surgery (approximately 5,000 cases annually) as well as exposure in the outpatient clinic (approximately 32,000 visits annually).

At the Hand Surgery Center, the fellows are exposed to the management of fractures and dislocations, inflammatory disorders, reconstruction (hand, wrist and elbow), flexor tendon repair and reconstruction, and acute and reconstructive management of joint disorders. During the University of Cincinnati rotation, there is a broad exposure to congenital hand surgery, brachial plexus reconstruction, complex trauma, and microvascular surgery. Experience in burn reconstruction is also available at the Shriners Burn Institute.
It is expected, upon completing the fellowship that the fellow will have completed a manuscript which can be submitted for publication in a peer review journal.

Travel:
The fellows attend 3 meetings per year

  • Annual ASSH meeting
  • A hand meeting of his/her choice
  • Annual Cincinnati-Louisville-Indianapolis meeting

On call responsibilities:
Fellows will be on call approximately once every fourth night.

Teaching Laboratory
The Microsurgery Lab at Bethesda is conveniently located in the Bethesda Oak Hospital. A trained microsurgical technician staffs the lab so Fellows can practice microsurgical techniques

Caseload
Hand Surgery Specialists performs approximately 25,000 outpatient visits and 4,000 surgical procedures yearly. The case distribution reflects spectrum of hand surgery.

Acute Trauma 20%
Traumatic Reconstruction 25%
General Hand Surgery 20%
Arthritis 20%
Shoulder 5%
Acute and Elective Microvascular Surgery 5%
Congenital/Plexus 5%

Facilities

The majority of the Fellow’s outpatient experience is centered at the Oak Street office and attached Hand Surgery Center. This newly constructed office houses a conference library containing over 250 texts, 13 periodicals, and audio-visual teaching materials related to hand surgery. All physicians and fellows are connected via state of the art computers to a wide area network that facilitates digital image processing, presentation preparation, video production, and web based research.

The clinical section of the office includes patient examination rooms and hosts the TriHealth Hand Rehabilitation Institute. The institute’s certified hand therapists provide superb care for our patients and teach fellows the intricacies of hand therapy.

Attached to the Oak Street office is the Hand Surgery Center. This three room operative facility is superbly equipped and has a staff that is dedicated to the highest quality hand surgery.

Salary
The salary is competitive with regional fellowships and in 2009-2010 is $53,000. In addition, there is healthcare coverage, two weeks vacation, and malpractice insurance.

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