Welcome from our Hand Fellowship Director

Thank you for your interest in the UCSF Hand, Elbow, and Upper Extremity Fellowship Program. We are excited to share with you the unique opportunities our program offers, aimed at providing a comprehensive and diverse clinical experience that will prepare you for a successful career in hand and microvascular surgery.

Our fellowship is a coordinated effort between the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the UCSF Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. As a fellow, you will provide emergency and consultation services across the three main campuses of the UCSF School of Medicine: UCSF Moffitt Long Hospital, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and UCSF Mission Bay Children’s Hospital. Your longitudinal ambulatory clinic experience will be based at the Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay, offering continuity of care and a broad scope of cases.

We take pride in our one-on-one apprenticeship model, where you will work closely with our attending hand faculty in a setting that emphasizes both hands-on learning and mentorship. Your clinical responsibilities will evolve throughout the fellowship year, starting with serving as the primary assistant to the attending surgeons in the operating room and progressing to junior attending roles where you will supervise residents. Our goal is for you to achieve full independence by the end of your fellowship year, equipped with the confidence and skills to lead in your field.

What sets our fellowship apart is the flexibility and customization of your educational experience. The first half of the year follows a structured rotation, while the second half is tailored to your individual learning needs and goals, allowing you to maximize your exposure to areas of interest. In addition to your clinical responsibilities, you will benefit from specialized educational opportunities, including two wrist and elbow arthroscopy labs, a week-long microvascular lab, monthly cadaver dissection labs, preoperative planning with 3D printing, and dedicated research time.

We believe this fellowship offers an exceptional balance of clinical practice, hands-on training, and research, all within the dynamic and collaborative environment of UCSF. We look forward to the possibility of welcoming you to our program and helping you achieve your professional goals.

Sincerely,
Nicolas Lee, MD MS
Fellowship Director, UCSF Hand, Elbow, and Upper Extremity Fellowship Program

If you have any additional questions, please email orthoeduteam@ucsf.edu.

Fellowship Positions: One (1)
Please note that we do not currently accept foreign applicants.

Combined Salary and Housing Allowance (AY2025-26): $107,701
Duration: 1 year
Dates: July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026
Deadline for Applications:  Nov. 14, 2024
 

To apply to our hand fellowship program, please complete the Universal Hand Application found on the ASSH website.

Your application must include the following:
Universal Hand Application 
A current curriculum vitae 
Personal Statement 
USMLE Board Scores
Medical School transcripts 
Three (3) letters of recommendation.

Please forward signed AMSSM code of ethics and first page of publications to orthoeduteam@ucsf.edu.

Interviews

In accordance with the most recent announcement by the University of California Graduate Medical Education, we will hold interviews virtually for the 2025-2026 application season.  Interview dates are:

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Faculty

UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Nicolas Lee, MD MS (Fellowship Director) 
Nicole Schroeder, MD
Igor Immerman, MD 
Mathias Masem, MD 
Anthony Ding, MD 
Lauren Santiesteban, MD 
Lauren Shapiro, MD
Gopal Lalchandani, MD

UCSF Department of Plastic Surgery

Scott L. Hansen MD, FACS, Professor and Chief, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Michael Terry, MD, Associate Professor,  Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Gloria Sue MD, MA, Assistant Professor,  Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Shriners Hospital for Children Sacramento 
Micah Sinclair, MD
Claire Manske, MD

Program structure

Currently, the weekly schedule is:

Monday
6:45 am to 7:45 am Hand conference at Orthopaedic Institute (OI) at Mission Bay 
8 am – 5 pm Longitudinal Ambulatory clinic at Orthopaedic Institute

Tuesday
7:30 am to 5 pm Ambulatory Surgery center at Orthopaedic Institute
Third Tuesday of the month:  7 am – 4 pm, Fracture Conference and Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG) fellows clinic

Wednesday
7:30 am to 5 pm Alta Bates Surgery Center (or ZSFG OR)

Thursday
7:30 am to 5 pm OR at UCSF Moffitt Long Hospital/Parnassus or OI/Mission Bay
Third Thursday of the month: 6:45 am – 7:30 am, journal club

Friday
First Friday 8 am to noon, Cadaver dissection; afternoon research 
Second Friday 8 am to noon, Interdisciplinary Peripheral Nerve clinic; afternoon research
Third and fourth Fridays: 7 am to 5 pm, ZSFG fracture conference and OR

Additional program notes

•    The fellow will spend a dedicated 6-week rotation block at Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Sacramento
•    The fellow will have an opportunity to work with volunteer clinical faculty at Alta Bates Surgery center
•    The fellow will have the opportunity to take weekend replantation call at Buncke Clinic

Conference schedule

As a clinical Fellow within a full-service academic orthopaedic department and residency program, the Fellow has the opportunity to attend the full complement of organized conferences and rounds. These include:

•    Monday, 6:45 am Hand Service conference
•    Tuesday, 7 am: Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital Hand conference (weekly)
•    Wednesday, 6:30 am: UCSF Orthopaedic Grand Rounds (weekly)
•    Wednesday, 8:30 am: UCSF Orthopaedics basic science conference (weekly)
•    Thursday 6:45 am: Hand Journal club (3rd Thurs of the month at the OI)
•    Friday, 7 am: UCSF Hand Service indications conference (weekly)
•    Biannual Bay Area Hand Club dinner conference

Research

The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery has an integrated multi-disciplinary orthopaedic research laboratory. Components include: the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory, the cadaveric surgical training facility, a 3D printing laboratory, and the Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory. The Orthopaedic Research Laboratory is a major component in the development of the orthopaedic surgery department under the leadaership of Chair, C. Benjamin Ma, MD, and Vice Chair, Jeffrey C. Lotz, Ph.D., as Laboratory Director. 

Already state-of-the-art equipment, such as MTS and MMED mechanical testing machines, full computer capabilities, full histology capabilities and video imaging are in place. The Hand and Microvascular Surgery Service is an integral part of this research initiative. Hand research Fellows perform basic science projects in wrist and hand biomechanics, soft tissue repair, animal research, imaging studies, and any other topics that are within the capabilities of the laboratory. There is a monthly hand research meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:00 – 7:00 pm via zoom conference, with informal meetings with individual investigators on individual projects on an as-needed basis. The lab presently has major projects underway in flexor tendon healing, developing an animal model for repetitive motion injuries and chronic nerve compression, CT imaging and finite element analysis of wrist anatomy, and implant experimentation and design. The laboratory is supported by grants from UCSF, the Orthopaedic Research and Educational Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and private donations.

Clinical projects and areas of interest include: evaluation of outcomes of carpal tunnel surgery, external fixators for wrist fractures, and clinical trials of novel splinting and casting devices.

An important feature of the Combined Hand and Microvascular Surgery Fellowship is one-on-one teaching of research methodology, including formulation of a clinical or basic research question, setting up the protocol for the experiment, and producing a manuscript or a paper. All Fellows are required to complete a project prior to the completion of the Fellowship, with national meeting presentation/publication expected. Adequate time and supervision is provided to make this a realistic and integral part of the Fellowship.