This morning, we completed our interviews of 29 candidates for the Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship at the University of Washington. This group of candidates is truly outstanding - one of the best we seen since starting our fellowship in 1988. Two of these young men and women will join our 55 fellowship alumni who are now practicing shoulder and elbow surgery across the country - from Seattle to Miami, from SanDiego to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Almost all of our graduates are members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES). One-quarter of our graduates have been recruited to university faculty positions.

Our goal is to enable our fellows to master advanced skills in diagnosis and surgical management of both common and rare conditions that prevent patients from enjoying their lives. In addition, we will provide opportunities for them to engage in cutting edge research investigating some of the major questions faced by our specialty, such as
(1) when is rotator cuff repair not in the best interest of a patient with a cuff tear?
(2) what can be offered to a patient with arthritis who wishes to pursue activities beyond what is recommended for a conventional total shoulder?
(3) how can surgeons monitor the quality of their practice outcomes to identify what is working and what is not?
(4) how can we avoid unnecessary expenses of imaging - a cost that consumes much of the resource spent on shoulder and elbow care?
(5) how can we evaluate the many new orthopaedic implants and products brought to market each year to determine if their increased cost results in increased benefit to our patients?
(6) how can we make shoulder and elbow surgery safer from the risk of infection?

We are excited to be tackling these and other 'big questions'. We are excited to have the partnership of our fellows, who help us and who end out teaching us as well. For sure, the future is brighter because of them.

Here are the publications of our core faculty:

Jason Hsu

Frederick Matsen

Winston Warme

Albert Gee

Jonah Hebert-Davies

Here are some of the approaches we share with our fellows:

How to get the most information out of plain x-rays (see this link)

Managing irrerparable rotator cuff tears (see this link)

The cuff tear arthropathy arthroplasty (see this link).

A straightforward approach to reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (see this link).

Shoulder rehabilitation exercises (see this link).

How to do a robust anatomic totals shoulder (see this link).

The ream and run technique for active individuals (see this link) (see email below from today).

Here are some links about our fellowship and our area:

The University of Washington Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship

Life in Seattle

Beautiful Seattle

How to find the best hikes around Seattle

The Pacific Northwest

You can support cutting edge shoulder research that is leading to better care for patients with shoulder problems, click on this link.