Hand Rehabilitation is an outpatient clinic with the primary focus on rehabilitation of patients with upper extremity pathology. The clinic is an integral part of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Our Hand Rehabilitation program works closely with our orthopaedic health providers promoting continuity of care and "Medicine of the Highest Order".
The University of Rochester Medical Center was founded 85 years ago by Alexander Flexner, Rush Rhees, and George Eastman. These visionaries sought to create a first class medical school within the University of Rochester or in Alexander Flexner's words a "medical school of the highest order." The medical school and hospital have expanded tremendously over the last eight decades by providing world class medical care, receiving numerous awards, and research funding. Since 2006 the Department of Orthopaedics has been the nation's leader in federal funding from the NIH.
The Orthopaedic Department services the greater Rochester and surrounding nine counties. This comprehensive department contains forty sub-specialties including Orthopaedic Oncology, Trauma, Sports Medicine, and Pediatric Orthopaedics. The orthopaedic health providers are located together in an orthopaedics building in Clinton Crossings. The close proximity promotes an environment of collaboration among sub-specialties, convenient access to patients, and excellent communication between physicians and therapists.
Since 1974 the Hand Rehabilitation program has been dedicated to returning patients top their maximum functional level in society. The department began over three decades ago when one of our leading hand surgeons, Dr. Richard Burton, developed a safe, supportive environment with advanced technologies in hand therapy. He wanted to create a department where the therapists had the unique designation Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) in order to give high quality of care to his upper extremity patients.
Presently, the Hand and Upper Extremity department works collaboratively with six hand surgeons in addition to other referring orthopaedic providers within the University and surrounding community. The therapists in this department have the designation CHT or are being trained to take their certification examination. The therapists maintain their credentialing through both continuing education and servicing the community.
The therapists attend annual conferences, symposiums, and participate in weekly journal clubs with the hand surgeons. The hand therapists play an active role assisting in the mentoring of the physician assistant students. orthopaedic residents, and hand fellow. Two of our therapists are providers of functional capacity evaluations for the community. As leaders of hand therapy the therapists take an active role in teaching undergraduate physical therapy students, being clinical instructors, speaking at elementary schools, and presenting to other physicians in the community.
The program is designed to provide fellows with a year-long intensive study of hand therapy, preparing them to sit for the CHT Exam offered by the Hand Therapy Certification Commission (HTCC). Clinical time during the fellowship is approximately 75-80% of a typical week with a number of structured one-on-one mentoring sessions included. The remainder of the time is spent completing didactic training, research, projects, hand conferences, and presentations related to the overall curriculum of the fellowship program.
Develop Board Certified Hand Therapists by the Hand Therapy Certification Commission (HTCC). Develop clinical specialists in Hand Therapy who excel as members of the orthopedic upper extremity division, demonstrate advanced clinical reasoning, fabricate hand orthoses, and demonstrate effective teaching strategies for the upper extremity orthopedic population. This fellowship is designed to prepare participants to become skilled hand therapists by providing them with education through multidisciplinary academic and clinical experiences.
The goals of the fellowship program are to educate therapists to:
Credential Conferred: Certificate of Completion of a Hand Therapy Fellowship.
Program Dates:
Length of Study: 12 Months
Start Date: January 1st
Location:
URMC Hand and Upper Extremity Rehabilitation
Department of Orthopaedics & Physical Performance
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, New York
Salary: Fellows will receive a salary reflective of their time spent performing independent patient care. Fellows do not maintain a full case load to secondary to time being allocated for didactic coursework, presentation, and projects.
Benefits: Fellows are eligible for benefits through the University of Rochester Medical Center. This includes employer supported health and dental insurance, long-term disability, pension plan, life insurance and paid time off. This benefit list is not all-inclusive, and applicants are directed to the human resources department at URMC for a complete description of benefits.
The applicant must hold a current license to practice physical or occupational therapy in the state of New York.
The applicant must possess the following: a master's or doctorate of physical or occupational therapy and completed field work in orthopaedics. A minimum of one year of clinical practice following graduation and credentialing is preferred.
Acceptance will be based on interest, ability and aptitude for a career as a physical or occupational therapist in a hand setting.
The strongest applicants may possess the following:
Fellows will be selected by the Admissions Committee and their decision will be final. The superior candidates will be given an interview, which is conducted by members of the admissions committee. Candidates are assessed in the areas of commitment, knowledge of the purpose of the program, interests and personality. Good candidates will possess qualities of flexibility, team building, leadership, professionalism and desire to learn.
A candidate requesting disability accommodations must request the required accommodation(s) in writing to the program director.
Application Deadline: June 1st
In applying for admission, the following materials must be submitted:
Please submit all application materials to Christina Read at the address listed below.
Hand Rehabilitation and the University of Rochester reserves the right not to process any application that is incomplete.
Acceptance into the hand fellowship program is provisional pending the candidate meeting all the conditions of employment of the University of Rochester.
Additional requirements: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.
Christina Read, PT, DPT, CHT
Hand Fellowship Director
Hand and Upper Extremity Rehabilitation
2064 Fairport Nine Mile Point Road
Suite 100
Penfield, NY 14526
Telephone: (585) 851-0700
Email: Christina_Read@urmc.rochester.edu
