Phillyortho- Congrats on your match. Itâs clear that you have a poor opinion of Indiana hand. Iâm a current fellow at The Indiana Hand Center and based on my experience over the past 6 months I can say that your impression is incorrect. This program is still a premier fellowship. My goal here is not to change your opinion, but to shed some light for those who for whatever reason might have a skewed impression.
Indiana Hand is selective when evaluating candidates and traditionally takes orthopods and occasionally outstanding non-ortho fellows. The plastic surgeon in my class brings with him a unique soft tissue experience that most of us donât receive in ortho. His ideas, thought process, and approach to problems have been a positive impact on my education. Iâm glad heâs a part of our class and I wouldnât trade him out for anyone.
One of the distinctive aspects of this program is that itâs a private practice with 9 partners who treat every aspect of pathology in the upper extremity. Each one of these guys is a scholar and a gentleman. They have or are currently making significant contributions to the advancement of our field. They have a wealth of knowledge & experience and are eager to share it with us. Itâs great to see that each one has a different approach to a problem- at times thatâs 9 different techniques you can learn and put in your armamentarium.
True, weâre busy. However, if you come here prepared to be busy itâs not a problem. During the day, time is spent with one of the partners seeing patients in office & operating (not watching). Call is our opportunity to have autonomy. There are some great cases that come in on a call nights. My experience has included replants, 4 part proximal humerus fx w/ shoulder dislocation, myonecrosis of the upper extremity resulting in forequarter amputation. Certainly those are the bigger cases and rare. Usual call includes a good number of tendon/nerve/artery lacerations, open fxâs, nail beds, amputations, infection. In my opinion this is a great experience that will better prepare me for practice. My time has never been spent doing skut. I donât feel taken advantage of, nor have I been treated like an instrument for increasing the groupâs revenue. The guys in the practice work equally hard themselves. Education comes first and we are protected from clinical responsibilities during teaching conferences.
I interviewed at 11 programs. I scheduled Indiana Hand as my first interview- I had no intention of ranking it and only scheduled it as a âpracticeâ interview. I was caught off guard with what I learned and when I submitted my rank list it was at the top. My 6 months here have been phenomenal and I have absolutely no regrets. When I complete this fellowship, I know I will leave with outstanding training and 13 friends (mentors and fellows) that I can call at any time.
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