Application deadline

The deadline for applications is Nov. 1 of each year.

Number of fellows accepted each year

Three fellows are selected to train in our program each year.

Clinical experience and training

Approximately 60 percent of fellows’ experience in the clinic and OR settings is related to the care of children and adolescents involved in sports and the pathology unique to this sub-population. The fellows will also provide care to a large population of young adults.

Many of the patients seen in clinic represent surgical consultations referred from other Boston Children’s Hospital faculty members or other adult orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians in the region. Fellows receive broad exposure to and develop a deep understanding of surgical indications in this younger patient population.

Faculty

• Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH, Program Director
• Lyle Micheli, MD, Program Director Emeritus
• Benton Heyworth, MD, Associate Program Director
• Donald Bae, MD
• Andrea Bauer, MD
• Melissa Christino, MD
• Dennis Kramer, MD
• Matthew Milewski, MD
• Martha Murray, MD
• Yi-Meng Yen, MD, PhD

Clinical training

Fellows will have extensive exposure to both open and arthroscopic procedures of the knee, shoulder, hip, ankle, and elbow. Fellows assist in creating a management plan for both operative and non-operative problems, including follow-up and what is expected at follow-up.

Rotation structure

Fellows rotate through each team in two-month blocks. The rotation is repeated during the second half of the year.

On a weekly basis, fellows will spend roughly three to four days in the operating room, one to two days in clinic, and a half to a full day on research and/or elective.

Patient populations

Adolescent patients make up approximately 65 percent of our patient population. Another 15 percent are pediatric, and 20 percent are adult.

Areas of focus

Fellows will have ample training in the areas of knee, hip, foot and ankle, shoulder*, elbow, and hand.

* — For additional shoulder exposure, with an emphasis on advanced arthroscopic rotator cuff repair techniques, fellows will spend one month each rotating at the New England Baptist Hospital.

Common disorders and procedures

Knee

• ACL reconstruction, primary and revision techniques (#1 procedure performed by fellows)
• PCL reconstruction
• Multiligamentous knee reconstruction techniques
• Meniscus repair and transplantation techniques
• Patellar stabilization techniques: MPFLR, TTO, physeal-sparing techniques
• Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD)
• Advanced cartilage resurfacing techniques: MACI, OATS, OCA

Shoulder

• Glenohumeral instability (primary and revision techniques: Bankart, Latarjet, posterior Bankart, and MDI)
• SC joint, AC joint: dislocations, fracture dislocations, reconstruction techniques
• Clavicle fracture management and ORIF techniques
• Rotator cuff repair

Hip

• Advanced hip arthroscopy in the skeletally mature and immature
• Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and related techniques: subspine impingement, SCFE-related FAI, posterior FAI
• Hip instability in young athletes
• Apophyseal avulsion fractures: operative and non-operative management

Ankle

• Talar OCD: arthroscopic and advanced cartilage resurfacing techniques
• Ankle instability and peroneal instability in the skeletally immature and mature
• Anterior and posterior impingement (e.g. os trigonum, arthroscopic and open techniques)

Elbow

• Capitellar OCD: arthroscopic and mini-open techniques
• Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction in the skeletally immature and mature
• Management of overuse in the young thrower: internal impingement, Little League elbow, Little League shoulder

Lectures and conferences

• Combined sports and radiology conference
• Journal club
• Lecture series
• Sports research meetings 
• Sports-specific didactics
• Surgical hip conference
• Surgical indications conference
• Ultrasound workshops

Fellow responsibilities

Fellows will be responsible for being on call approximately once every seven weeks. Each call period lasts for seven days and is taken from home. This responsibility is shared with the primary care sports medicine fellows.

Benefits and salary

Fellows will receive standard PGY-VI salary and benefits.

Past fellows and current appointments

2024-25

• Lucas De Virgilio
• Christopher DeFrancesco
• Adam Nasreddine

2023-24

• Elise Bixby
• Kristen Combs
• Breann Tisano

2022-23

• Deepak Chona
• Jeffrey “Jeff” Kay
• William “Kenny” Roache

2021-22

• John Roaten
• Elizabeth “Liz” Scott
• Magdalena “Magda” Tarchala

2020-21

• Tara Baxter
• Aditi Majumdar

2019-20

• Mahad Hassan
• R. Gunnar Tysklind
• Benjamin Wilson

2018-19

• Kathleen Maguire, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Stephen Mathew, Baylor Scott & White Health
• Jessica Traver, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

2017-18

• Judd Allen, Advanced Sports & Orthopedics
• Nikolaos Paschos, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Edward Schleyer, Coastal Orthopedic Associates

2016-17

• Pamela Lang, American Family Children’s Hospital, University of Wisconsin
• Michael McClincy, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
• Natasha Trentacosta, Santa Monica Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Group

2015-16

• Peter Fabricant, Hospital for Special Surgery
• Emily Niu, Children’s National Medical Center
• Lauren Redler, Columbia University Medical Center

2014-15

• Melissa Christino, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Jennifer Beck, Orthopaedic Institute for Children, Los Angeles
• Patrick Vavken, Alpha Clinic Zurich

Application process

This fellowship is open to those who have successfully completed an ACGME/ACGME-I accredited residency program (or Canadian equivalent) in Orthopedic Surgery, and be eligible for Massachusetts licensure.

The interview season has concluded for the 2023-24 academic year. This program participates in the San Francisco Match; the next cycle will begin in August 2022, for the 2024-25 academic year.

Contact information

For additional questions please contact our fellowship coordinator:

Alaina McLaughlin, C-TAGME
Alaina.McLaughlin@childrens.harvard.edu