Although we feel that our high clinical volume, focus on education, research resources, and emphasis on work-life balance all make us unique, the following highlight some specific examples for prospective fellows:
Clinical Diversity
The Emory Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship has 15 full-time faculty with passion for high-quality education, patient care, and scientific investigation. Furthermore, the orthopaedic and plastic hand surgeons work side-by-side in a unified upper extremity division, providing complementary expertise for our patients. This provides fellows with exposure to every area of hand and upper extremity surgery including reconstructions of the shoulder and elbow, microsurgical reconstructions and free tissue transfer, brachial plexus and peripheral nerve reconstructions, congenital reconstructions and management of spasticity, and all areas of upper extremity trauma. Furthermore, fellows will be exposed to the treatment of elite athletic injuries, as Emory is the official team physicians for the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Dream, Harlem Globetrotters, and Georgia Tech Athletics.
Research
The majority of the faculty at Emory are devoted to clinical investigations, and many of them work closely with two PhDs and a biomechanics specialist to carry out impactful translational science investigations. With more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and many more regional, national, and international presentations, the research culture and tremendous resources are unparalleled within the world of upper extremity surgery. Furthermore, the fellows will have between one-half and one day per week of protected time to take advantage of these research endeavors.
Didactics
Fellows start the year with a week-long microsurgery, flap, and arthroscopy course. Then, throughout the remainder of the year, fellows will learn from the Emory faculty during weekly complex case conferences, a weekly research conference, weekly topic specific didactics, monthly SAE question review, weekly orthopaedic surgery grand rounds, monthly upper extremity journal club, quarterly city-wide journal club, monthly industry-sponsored labs, and monthly cadaveric lab dissections. Furthermore, fellows will be paid to attend the ASSH and either the AAOS or AAHS meeting the year of their fellowship.
Work-life balance
The city of Atlanta offers a tremendous amount of entertainment options outside of work. Some of the highlights include professional and collegiate sports, incredible quality and diversity of restaurants and bars, unique neighborhoods and cultures, a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, a famous aquarium and botanical gardens, nationally recognized shopping experiences, and myriad fine arts options (concerts, symphony, Broadway plays, etc.). The faculty have memberships and tickets to many of these opportunities and enjoy treating the fellows and their families to such experiences.
