Hand Fellow

Hospital for Special Surgery•New York, NY

3d•Onsite

About The Position

HSS offers a Hand Therapy Fellowship for Occupational Therapists. The HSS Hand Therapy Fellowship for Occupational Therapists is a clinically-based training program for experienced occupational therapists seeking to specialize in hand therapy. This fellowship is full time and 12 months in length. Fellows work 37.5 hours per week, spending approximately 50% of their time in education experiences and 50% providing supervised patient care. The mission of the program is to provide occupational therapists with a comprehensive, structured program of clinical and didactic experiences for the development of advanced clinical reasoning, skills, and behaviors in hand and upper extremity rehabilitation. A weekly education series of lectures and labs with assigned readings is the cornerstone of the didactic portion of the fellowship. In addition, fellows are instructed in the specialized skill of upper extremity and orthotic use, design and fabrication in weekly labs. One-on-one mentoring, including co-treatments, case review, and skills practice, supports the development of clinical reasoning skills and professional behavior. Clinical communication and technical skills are developed and applied through patient care delivery, introducing more complex cases over time. Knowledge is enhanced by observing specialty therapy practices and hand/upper extremity surgery, office visits with the HSS hand surgeons, and attendance at HSS Hand Service Grand Rounds and Hand Therapy and Rehabilitation inservices. The fellows’ developing competency in hand therapy is integrated and shared through the completion of five projects/presentations.

Requirements

Graduation from an ACOTE® accredited occupational therapy program
Current OT licensure and registration in New York State or eligibility to attain them prior to start of fellowship
Malpractice insurance (minimum $1 mil per occurrence/ $3 mil aggregate)
1 year of experience after graduation in an outpatient orthopedic setting with some experience in hand/upper extremity rehabilitation

Nice To Haves

Total of 3 or more years of experience after graduation including 1 or more years in hand/upper extremity rehabilitation in an outpatient orthopedic setting
Membership in AOTA and/or ASHT

Responsibilities

Provide supervised patient care.
Participate in weekly education series of lectures and labs with assigned readings.
Be instructed in the specialized skill of upper extremity and orthotic use, design and fabrication in weekly labs.
Engage in one-on-one mentoring, including co-treatments, case review, and skills practice.
Develop and apply clinical communication and technical skills through patient care delivery, introducing more complex cases over time.
Observe specialty therapy practices and hand/upper extremity surgery.
Attend office visits with HSS hand surgeons.
Attend HSS Hand Service Grand Rounds and Hand Therapy and Rehabilitation inservices.
Integrate and share developing competency in hand therapy through the completion of five projects/presentations.