Welcome From the Director

The University of Rochester Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship is a one year ACGME accredited program for graduating residents to obtain additional exposure and expertise in treatment of the upper extremity.  The Fellowship began in 1974 under the leadership of Richard I Burton, MD and has had one fellow per year since inception.  The Fellowship was founded as a collaboration between orthopaedic and plastic surgery with Drs. Burton and Robert McCormack, both of whom serves as president for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.  

The Fellow will work with the orthopaedic hand division and be exposed to conditions from the finger tips to the shoulder.  The Fellow will see patients in our outpatient clinics and surgical procedures are performed in our outpatient surgery center, the operation rooms at Strong Memorial Hospital as well as procedures under local anesthesia in our Clinton Crossing procedure room. The Fellow will have specific rotations, but as the only Fellow, will have the opportunity to work with other faculty for interesting or rare cases.   Call is at our level I trauma center with the fellow providing back up to the resident covering the emergency department and coincides with the faculty call schedule during the specific rotation.  

The Fellow will attend the ASSH annual meeting, a microsurgery course at the beginning of Fellowship, and be provided with a stipend to cover loupes.  Our former Fellows are located throughout all parts of the country in both private practice and academic jobs. 

Rochester is located in the finger lakes region and is the third largest city in NY.  It is the birthplace of Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, Xerox, and Western Union.  The University of Rochester is currently the largest employer in the region, with over 27,000 employees.

I invite you to explore our website and learn more about our program.

Ronald Gonzalez, DO

Professor & Division Chief