hand fellowship

[bente]

A buddy of mine will be BC in EM soon and is very interested in hand training. He's even willing to work without a salary as a resident/fellow as long as half the time is in hand. This could be in ortho or plastics I'd think.
Do you have any suggestions for him I could pass along?
He's always done quite a few medical type missions and is one of the least compensation driven docs I've seen.
Any help appreciated,
Bente

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[docuw]

BC in EM? Hand is done after ortho or plastics residency. If EM=Emergency Medicine, I havent heard of that as a prereq for hand.

 

[modemduck]

BC in EM? Hand is done after ortho or plastics residency. If EM=Emergency Medicine, I havent heard of that as a prereq for hand.

I was wondering how competitive hand surgery was to enter as a fellowship? A friend of mine told me there were unfilled spots... is this true? Is it a more or less relaxed lifestyle than general ortho? Let me know. Thanks in advance

 

[dry dre]

I was wondering how competitive hand surgery was to enter as a fellowship? A friend of mine told me there were unfilled spots... is this true? Is it a more or less relaxed lifestyle than general ortho? Let me know. Thanks in advance

If you want to do a hand fellowship, you will be able to (out of ortho, general, or plastics).

The job market for hand varies quite a bit....some areas have an excess of hand surgeons, while other areas (particularly rural) are wide open with the opportunity to make more $$$ (with a lot more call though).

Regarding lifestyle...again, it depends on where you are located and your desires. In a rural setting where it's just you and maybe a couple others to share call, it will be just you (and maybe your partners) who will have to split the endless supply of munched dolphin floggers that show up in the ED. Some problems can wait until morning, others cant. In the area I am most familiar with (rural), I would say that the lifestyle is 'worse' than general ortho. I say "worse" assuming that you would take hand call.

Note that the nuances of the hand field are not desirable to everyone. While you get to sit while you work, you often are there for LONG periods of time working on small parts. Not for everyone, thus the open spots for fellowship.

 

[dry dre]

A buddy of mine will be BC in EM soon and is very interested in hand training. He's even willing to work without a salary as a resident/fellow as long as half the time is in hand. This could be in ortho or plastics I'd think.
Do you have any suggestions for him I could pass along?
He's always done quite a few medical type missions and is one of the least compensation driven docs I've seen.
Any help appreciated,
Bente

While the motivation is admirable, I think the training is beyond that which someone outside of surgery could pick up with on the job training.

Ortho surgeons have several months of hand training in residency, plus all the experience gained in treatment during residency. Plastics also train in hand, and general surgeons in addition to having surgery skills also get some hand experience.

I wouldn't get carried away with the notion that learning hand surgery is possible simply because it is a small % of the body etc. I also personally would be insecure about doing ANY type of surgery in the developing world without a lot of training in surgical management (indication for the procedure, how to do the procedure without assistance, knowledge of postop complications, etc). I say this as someone who has been abroad involved with medical relief work.