General Information

Thank you for your inquiry about our one year ACGME accredited Hand Surgery-Microsurgery Fellowship at UCLA. The Hand and Microsurgery Fellowship is a combined program within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery so that the fellow has an opportunity to interact with residents and attendings from both disciplines.  In addition to supervised clinical responsibilities in the operating room and clinics, with hand surgeons Prosper Benhaim, M.D. and Roy A. Meals, M.D., the fellow will also have independent clinical responsibilities at all of the four UCLA affiliated hospitals, West Los Angeles VA Hospital, Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, Shriners Hospital and Olive View County Medical Center.  The fellow will also have teaching responsibilities for residents and medical students and receive a temporary faculty appointment.  There are excellent facilities for anatomical dissections and microsurgical training and the fellow will be involved in both emergency and elective microsurgery.  We anticipate that one day per week will be blocked off from clinical responsibilities in order to pursue clinical or basic laboratory research. 

We accept the Universal Hand Surgery Fellowship application (located below). Complete and return the application and waiver form, along with a photo, brief personal statement and a copy of your CV.  Please arrange to have three letters of recommendation forwarded, one from the chief of your residency training program and one from a hand surgeon who knows you best.

UCLA participates in the NRMP Hand Fellowship Specialty Match and you should contact the NRMP for an applicant agreement for the Hand Surgery Specialty Match.  Applicants should have completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery or general surgery.  A California license is a requisite for the incoming fellow.

Please submit your application and letters of recommendation to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, 76-143 CHS, Los Angeles CA 90095-6902 or by email to dgrzanich@mednet.ucla.edu (phone: 310-794-7930).  After review of the applications, applicants will be invited to Los Angeles, usually in late February, March or early April, for a mutual visit and interview.

Thank you again for your interest in the UCLA Hand and Microsurgery Fellowship.  We encourage you to remain in touch with the Fellowship Coordinator regarding the status of your application.

For further detailed information regarding the fellowship structure, click here: Hand Fellowship Handout 

Yours sincerely,


Prosper Benhaim, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics/Plastics
Program Director, Hand and Microsurgery Fellowship
UCLA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer


Universal Hand Application
http://hsc.unm.edu/ortho/hand/UniversalHSFellowship Application.doc