Shoulder Fellowship: the future of our specialty.

The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, our national organization, is concluding this year's matching system by which the 58 young orthopaedic surgeons wishing advanced training in shoulder and elbow surgery will be paired with the 27 programs offering 42 fellowship positions. As can be seen from these numbers, there is strong competition for the available fellowships.

At the University of Washington we offer two fellowship positions each year and have just concluded our interviews with 21 of the most competitive candidates for our program. Those paired with us by the fellowship matching program will become the 49th and 50th University of Washington Shoulder Fellows. These surgeons will spend a year with us learning, teaching, caring for patients, discovering new knowledge and enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest (see this link).

Our fellowship was started 30 years ago and has produced truly outstanding shoulder surgeons who have now established robust practices both near and far, including Vancouver, New Hampshire, Miami, and San Diego. They have made and continue to make meaningful contributions to the evaluate and management of individuals troubled with shoulder and elbow problems. Half of our graduates have earned admission to the prestigious American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons society. One of our alumni, Tony Romeo, is the current president. Here are a few of our older fellows, perhaps you recognize some of them.

From left to right, Steve Lippitt, John Sidles, Mark Lazarus, Kevin Smith, David Duckworth, the late Doug Harryman, Michael Pearl, Rick Matsen, Dean Ziegler, Craig Arntz, and Tony Romeo.

We are most grateful to the alumni of our fellowship for their research - which includes many foundational contributions to the literature, for their help in the care of our patients, and for their ongoing work to make tomorrow's patient care better than yesterday's.

We invite you to learn more about our fellowship by visiting this link.

For information on life in Seattle, check out this link and this one.