Occupational Therapy Hand Fellowship

The Michigan Medicine Occupational Therapy Division is proud to offer a comprehensive hand therapy fellowship program. This fellowship program is designed to provide occupational therapists with the advanced knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the field of hand therapy.

Our 12-month, 40 hours/week program is designed to provide mentoring, hands-on experience and educational opportunities available in a progressive high-paced teaching atmosphere centered around occupation.

Candidates can expect a challenging clinical and educational environment at one of the country's top hospitals with exposure to a variety of diagnoses including:

• Cumulative trauma
• Arthritis
• Fractures
• Tendon lacerations, repairs and transfers
• Nerve decompressions and repairs
• Skin grafts and soft tissue flaps

To provide a comprehensive education, several rotation sites are included within the year-long program including:

• Burlington
• MedRehab- Canton
• Brighton Health Center
• Northville Health Center
• Domino’s Farms Orthopedic and Plastic Surgery Clinics

To provide post-professional education, in hand therapy to occupational therapists who will then be better equipped with this population to:

• Goal: Utilize current evidence based Occupational Therapy information to evaluate, develop and implement accurate Hand Therapy plan of care.  
• Objective: The fellow will demonstrate advanced skill in the application of evidence-based treatment by doing literature reviews, assignments, and demonstrate appropriate selection and implementation of evaluation and treatment.  

• Goal: Apply advanced occupational therapy interventions for each episode of care related to the    treatment of hand and UE diagnoses across the continuum of care.
• Objective: The fellow will apply advanced skill in the ability to develop comprehensive treatment plans based on goals and demonstrate the ability to apply Occupational Performance to all diagnoses, patient populations and ages served.  

• Goal: Demonstrate essential communication and collaboration skills between members of the interdisciplinary hand therapy team and the patient, to ensure positive outcomes.
• Objective: The fellow will take initiative to communicate on a regular basis with mentor, hand staff and faculty including active participation in team meetings.

• Goal:  Provide prevention and wellness strategies as it relates to disease management, activities of daily living, and workstation ergonomics.  
• Objective: Fellow will actively engage patients in prevention and wellness as part of their comprehensive treatment plan.

• Goal:  Participate in the development of new or innovative Hand Therapy techniques and the collection of evidence to support the effectiveness of those techniques to enhance the practice of Hand Therapy across the continuum of care including post-surgical and trauma diagnoses.
• Objective: The fellow will demonstrate advanced skills in the ability to review and critique articles, apply standardized and non-standardized methods of evaluation and treatment including utilizing and adapting protocols appropriately.  

• Goal: Contribute to the Occupational Therapy profession through teaching, research, publication, and presentations.
• Objective: The fellow will present a case study, and along with mentor select a long year project including, but not limited to systematic reviews, selection of a research project, publication and/or presentation.  

• Goal: The fellow will apply the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics, Core Values and Attitudes of Occupational Therapy Practice, and AOTA Standards of Practice for ethical decision making in professional interactions, client interventions, and employment settings.  
• Objective: The fellow will consistently demonstrate ethical behaviors and recognition of ethical concerns, and demonstrate knowledge of compliance requirements, and the administrative aspects of hand therapy.  

• Goal: Acquire experience that will contribute to meeting or exceeding requirements to prepare for certified hand examination.  
• Objective: The fellow will participate in all learning opportunities, complete time reports, and mentoring logs to track mentoring hours and direct patient care hours.  

The fellow must be able to:

• Accommodate a varying schedule 7am-7pm Monday thru Friday
• Complete detailed and thorough documentation applying the practice of hand therapy evaluation and intervention to daily occupation
• Provide their own housing and reliable transportation to the various rotation sites

Several assignments are required throughout the fellowship year including:

• Critical appraisal of academic journals
• Weekly self-reflection
• Modality and diagnosis-specific competencies
• Year-long hand fellowship project (varying formats) and presentation

• Graduate of an accredited Occupational Therapy program
• All candidates must have a current State of Michigan license or registration or be eligible to attain a license or registration prior to the initiation of the fellowship.
• Occupational Therapists must have current NBCOT certification
• Candidates must provide the selection committee with references from fieldwork supervisors and/or clinical practice supervisor
• A minimum of one year of clinical practice following graduation and credentialing required.
• Membership in the following state and/or national organizations preferred:
  • Michigan Occupational Therapy Association (MiOTA)
  • American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
  • American Society of Hand Therapy (ASHT)