Memorial Hermann Occupational Therapy Hand Fellowship offers a 12-month program which includes a wide range of clinical and didactic experiences across the patient’s lifespan and continuum of care. This collaborative program provides licensed occupational therapists the ability to enhance their skills while working with experienced clinicians in the area of hand occupational therapy inclusive of all upper extremities. Fellows will start the first Monday of January and the program will end the first Friday of the subsequent January. Fellows are salaried with full-time benefits from Day 1.
The mission of the Memorial Hermann Hand Fellowship Program is to provide advanced clinical training and professional development in the field of upper extremity rehabilitation, in order to enhance patient care. Program graduates will exemplify core attributes of an advanced practitioner, become innovators and intentional leaders in evidence-based practice and/or contribute to the profession through teaching, mentoring and research.
Goal 1: Support vision, brand promise, and culture of Memorial Hermann including values of innovation, accountability, empowerment, collaboration, respect, results and safety.
Goal 2: Promote Memorial Hermann’s reputation as an industry leaders of excellence and become nationally recognized provider for post-graduate occupation therapist education in the area of hand therapy.
Goal 3: Develop highly skilled occupational therapy practitioners in the specialty of hand therapy through evidence-based didactic curriculum, advanced clinical mentorship and leadership development.
Goal 4: Provide an accredited platform for occupational therapists to gain hours and knowledge required to take the Hand Therapy Certification Examination to become a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT).
As the largest not-for-profit health system in Southeast Texas and nationally recognized for quality and patient safety, Memorial Hermann Health System offers robust resources and an established history of supporting clinical excellence. The Memorial Hermann Hand Therapy Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program offers a comprehensive fellowship experience encompassing upper extremity occupational therapy. This allows fellows to enhance their clinical decision-making skills and develop their confidence as expert clinicians within the field of hand therapy. The program offers learning modules provided by interdisciplinary instructors who are experts in the curriculum content as well as physician rounding and hands-on splinting experience. The numerous Certified Hand Therapists on staff as well as aligned physician partners create an enriched learning experience with at least 350 hours of mentorship to enhance knowledge acquisition and clinical application.
Fellows will have the opportunity to enhance their clinical skills in the treatment of a variety of diagnoses, both post-operative and conservative, including:
The didactic curriculum is led by content experts covering the entire upper extremity with specific focus management of variety of hand-specific diagnoses, including splinting and orthotic fabrication. The learning modules will provide the fellow with focused learning experiences through lecture, lab and mentored discussions to optimize adult-centered learning. The interdisciplinary module instructors serve as clinical specialists in the curriculum content and within patient management. The goal of the module series is to provide a mechanism for knowledge acquisition and clinical application.
Learning modules will provide the fellow with focused learning experiences in a variety of formats- lecture, lab, and mentored discussions. The interdisciplinary module instructors serve as clinical specialists in the curriculum content and in patient-management. The goal of the module series is to provide a mechanism for knowledge acquisition and clinical application.
Module curriculum includes:
The fellow will receive 1:1 mentorship by clinical faculty who are specialists in their area of practice, in order to advance the fellow’s critical reasoning and patient management skills.
The fellow will treat patients approximately 30 hours per week at a clinic with another Certified Hand Therapist. The fellow will receive a minimum of 3 hours of 1:1 faculty mentorship per week. Mentorship occurs during patient treatment sessions and during non-treatment time to allow for practice of new psychomotor skills and/or the discussion of theory, scientific evidence and the clinical application thereof. Additional mentorship opportunities with the interdisciplinary team, including weekly rounding with physician partners and creation of a professional development plan, will serve to broaden the network and advance the fellow’s trajectory post-graduation.
The application can be found https://education.memorialhermann.org/profile/25119. The application and application fee should be received by August 1 for consideration. After applications are reviewed by Fellowship Leadership, the top applicants will be scheduled an onsite interview with Program and System Leadership. During the interview process, applicants are evaluated through a panel and faculty facilitated interviews. Applicants will be graded based on their commitment to lifelong learning and the profession, their professional vision, use of evidence, critical reasoning, ability to work within a team, time/stress management as well as fit within the organization. Fellowship start date will be early January but will be communicated more specifically to the fellow in the acceptance letter and end 1 calendar year later.
Applicants will be required to complete all supplemental requirements to apply to the Memorial Hermann Hand Occupational Therapy Fellowship.
These include:
Minimum eligibility requirements for acceptance to the Memorial Hermann Hand Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program:
Dianne Sepulvado OTR, CHT
Greenway Plaza
3651 Weslayan Street
Suite 110
Houston, TX 77027
Tel: (713) 850-8472
SMROTFellowship@memorialhermann.org
Vincent Martinez OT, CHT
9305 Pinecroft Dr. Suite 450
The Woodlands, TX 77380
P (713) 897-7930
SMROTFellowship@memorialhermann.org
*Memorial Hermann Health System owns and operates 14 hospitals and has joint ventures with three other hospital facilities.
*Memorial Hermann Health System owns and operates 14 hospitals and has joint ventures with three other hospital facilities.