Overview

Our hand and upper limb fellowship is designed to train board eligible orthopaedic or plastic surgeons dedicated to the study of the upper limb. The multidisciplinary Chase Hand & Upper Limb Center is comprised of both orthopaedic and plastic surgeons which exposes the fellows to a wide breadth of problems affecting the hand, shoulder and elbow.

The hand fellows play an integral role in didactic education. They contribute and organize aspects of weekly conferences, anatomy labs, and informal resident teaching sessions. The fellowship logically fosters clinical research, with ample opportunities for basic science research.

The fellowship program is ACGME accredited. Graduates are eligible for the Subspecialty Certification in Surgery of the Hand (formerly known as CAQ).

Rotations

The fellowship begins August 1. Fellows rotate thru Stanford University Medical Center, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. The clinical experience at Stanford includes disorders affecting adults, primarily reconstruction and trauma as well as athletic injuries. The microvascular experience is primarily gained at Stanford. The clinical experience at Packard Children's Hospital focuses primarily on congenital hand anomalies and brachial plexus injuries. The VA experience is primarily reconstructive in nature, in addition to the disorders affecting spinal cord injured patients.

The rotation schedules for the first year is as follows:

Positions

We accept 3 hand fellows per year (2 orthopedic and 1 plastic). We invite applicants for a traditional 1-year fellowship slot. We are dedicated to training two orthopedic and one plastic hand fellow.

Application Opens:

October 1, 2025

Application Deadline:

November 17, 2025

Interview Date:

March 27, 2026

Application Process

Our fellowship participates in the NRMP program, under the Combined Musculoskeletal Matching Program.

Individuals interested in applying to our fellowship should prepare the following:

• Complete hand application through the ASSH website.
• Three letters of recommendation
• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal Statement
• Medical school transcript
• Standardized Tests (USMLE or equivalent)

ASSH Hand Surgery Fellowship Application Platform will be available to accept applications on the date above at the link below. We no longer accept paper applications. 

Please submit application materials by logging into ASSH | ASSH Main Site