“It is our goal to educate our young surgeons to be the best of the best. We continue to learn from our fellows, and it is our hope that our students will become even better than their teachers.”
-Harold E. Kleinert, M.D.
Three principles have guided Dr. Kleinert’s life’s work and they are now cornerstones of the Christine M. Kleinert Institute hand surgery fellowship program:
- Whatever you do, do the best job you possibly can.
- When performing surgery, apply your thoughts and interest wholly towards the patient you’re caring for.
- If you do something well, you are obligated to share your talent and teach it to others.
More about the educational opportunities provided by our fellowship program:
- Approximately sixteen fellowships are granted annually by CMKI.
- Fellows are fully trained plastic, orthopaedic or general surgeons who come to Louisville for one year of additional training in hand and microsurgery.
- Our program is ACGME accredited and in collaboration with the University of Louisville.
- We are the ONLY hand surgery fellowship program accepting surgeons trained overseas.
- Half of our fellows come from the U.S., and half from countries around the world.
- To date, over 1,400 physicians from 60 countries have served as Kleinert Fellows.
The educational experience of CMKI fellows consists of daily didactic conferences and lectures as well as clinical experience–in the office, the emergency room, and the operating room–where fellows may assist with or perform, under direct supervision, approximately 6,000 procedures. Fellows rotate with faculty physicians, who have different backgrounds and areas of clinical focus. This exposes fellows to a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to upper limb problems.
Lectures
Academic training includes five daily conferences each week. The general outline for the conferences is:
- Staff lectures on Mondays and Tuesdays
- Lectures by fellows on Wednesdays
- Biomechanics series and evidence-based medicine series on Thursdays
- Case presentations and Journal Clubs on Fridays
The conferences are interspersed with lectures by visitors and outside faculty.
Workshops
Microlab
Our basic microsurgical training is provided through the Kleinert Institute Microlab. Fellows have access to the Microlab 24/7, and are encouraged to use the Microlab for additional experience.
Courses and Meetings –
For information on any of theses courses contact Lynn Hagglund at lynn.hagglund@louisville.edu
Upper Extremity Fixation Workshop
A two-day internal fixation workshop is given annually to the fellows and residents. The program focuses on an introduction to the instruments and sets, following by practical exercises in various areas of the upper extremity, and finally the rationale and indications for ORIF are covered, along with additional practical exercises.
Flap Course
The Christine M. Kleinert Institute offers an annual weekend course presenting and demonstrating types of flaps and when to use them presented by a variety of surgeons. The course covers new techniques to assist the physicians in maintaining current practice methods and improving outcomes.
EMG/NCS
The Christine M. Kleinert Institute offers a half-day course covering nerve conduction studies (NCS) and electromyography (EMG). This course, offered annually on a Saturday, covers technical and clinical aspects of electrodiagnostic nerve studies.
Tri-State Meeting
The Tri-State Hand Conference (also known as LIC Hand Conference) is an annual hand meeting between the Louisville, Indianapolis and Cincinnati Hand Centers. This meeting was originated to provide the hand surgery fellows an opportunity to practice their lectures for the annual American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) meeting held in the fall.