Hand Surgery Fellowship

Goal

The goal of the ACGME accredited UT Southwestern Hand Surgery Fellowship is to prepare individuals for a successful career in academic hand surgery.  The fellowship provides in-depth and comprehensive training in all areas of pediatric and adult hand and wrist surgery.  In addition, hand surgery fellows are able to develop and hone leadership, education and research skills.

Faculty

The fellowship consists of five core UT Southwestern hand surgery faculty, including Drs. Bardia Amirlak, Jonathan Cheng, Michel Saint-Cyr, Douglas Sammer, and Dennis Kao.  In addition, multiple adjunct faculty in both plastic and orthopedic surgery participate in the hand surgery fellowship.

Institutions

Hand surgery fellows rotate through multiple institutions, including UT Southwestern University Hospitals, Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas Children’s Medical Center, the Dallas VA Medical Center, and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital.  In addition, hand surgery fellows gain experience in the private practice setting in the Dallas community.  Each institution has unique characteristics and patient populations that expose the hand surgery fellows to a wide range of hand and wrist problems.

Clinical Exposure

The diversity of institutions allows the hand surgery fellows to be exposed to an array of complex hand and wrist problems over the course of the fellowship, including:

  • Reconstruction of the hand, wrist, forearm
  • Upper extremity transplantation (composite tissue allotransplantation)
  • Degenerative and autoimmune diseases
  • Acute and non-acute trauma, including hand, wrist, brachial plexus, replantation
  • Arthroscopy of the hand and wrist
  • Congenital hand and upper extremity, pediatric brachial plexus, cerebral palsy
  •  Arthroplasty in the hand and wrist

Research Interests of the Faculty

Bardia Amirlak: Flexor tendon repair, carpal tunnel syndrome, upper extremity transplantation

Jonathan Cheng: Peripheral nerve injury and recovery, congenital differences

Dennis Kao: Peripheral nerve regeneration, hand anatomy, and biomechanics

Michel Saint-Cyr: Soft tissue coverage, free tissue transfer, functional free tissue transfer

Douglas Sammer: Wrist biomechanics, upper extremity transplantation, flexor tendon healing