Hand Camp 2023

The St Louis Shriners Hospital began hand camp in 2008 and it has taken place in early autumn each year in Pitosi, Missouri (except during COVID when it was virtual). This year the camp was October 13-15, a bit later than usual and, also, a bit chillier than usual. But the energy and love was […]

Hand Society (ASSH) 2023 Travels

The ASSH Annual Meeting was in Toronto this year.  As usual, it was a fabulous meeting and its always great to connect with friends from across North America and the world.  There were very good pediatric sessions throughout the week! We had a fantastic Pediatric Hand Study Group (PHSG) meeting.  The group continues to grow with a goal […]

Hand Camp 2022

I am so excited that we were able to host Hand Camp in 2022. This camp is supported by the St Louis Shriners Hospital and organized by the amazing hand therapy team. We had our first hand camp back in 2008 with only minor interruptions since (COVID). This year we hosted 19 families (including affected […]

Hand Camp 2019- St. Louis Shriners Hospital

I realize that I post about Hand Camp nearly every year.  Our St. Louis Shriners Hand Camp is really something special.  But I do so for good reason- it is just so impactful for kids, families, staff, and me!  Being outside the hospital setting allows a different kind of conversation and allows a different perspective for […]

Research Matters

The Paul R. Manske Award for Best Congenital Manuscript is named for my late partner who had such an important impact on the field.  This Award recognizes the most impactful paper related to kids born with hand or arm differences, anomalies, etc.  I am happy to say that our paper was selected for this award […]

Mission Trip

I wanted to share the experience of my first Mission Trip.  I went with the World Pediatric Project (WPP), a wonderful organization with which I have a long relationship.  I have cared for many of their patients in the US but have not traveled with them (or any other organization).  Their website, which can be […]

Travel and News

Happy 2018!  I hope it is a great one for you and your family. Well, I already have one resolution for 2018- blog more consistently.  I am not meeting my goals and hope to do better in this new year. A few things to share. I had a wonderful trip to Japan as guest speaker […]

Hand Camp 2017

One of the highlights of my year is Hand Camp.  Each year (see previous posts), I have shared a brief post but for those of you without a Hand Camp experience, I will briefly describe.  This is a camp run by the Shriners Hospital team including the occupational therapists, recreational therapists, social workers and nurses.  […]

Pediatric Hand Study Group 2017

I recently traveled to Philadelphia for the annual meeting of the Pediatric Hand Study Group (PHSG).  This group is composed of hand surgeon and therapists who are committed to caring for kids born with hand differences.  The meeting was excellent as usual and the hosts included the surgeons from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and the […]

Buenos Aires IFSSH Meeting

It was my pleasure to attend the 50th anniversary meeting of the IFSSH- the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand.  This international organization meets every three years (previous meetings in South Korea and India, next meeting in Germany) with a weeklong exchange and dialog on hand surgery.  I was pleased to have […]

ASSH Annual Meeting 2016

I recently returned from Austin Texas, site of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting.  This was the first time the meeting was held in Austin but I am sure we will be back.  I thought the overall meeting was really well done with a great mix of scientific content and review […]

Hand Camp 2016

Once a year, Hand Camp is held in Pitosi, Missouri at Camp Lakewood.  This is a wonderful opportunity for 15 kids with hand and arm differences to come to camp with their entire family (parents, siblings).  The kids get a chance to meet and socialize with kids with similar brith differences but also work with […]

Meetings

I have been away from this blog for too long.  I have been traveling a bit and want to share some information about the meetings I have attended.  I hope and expect to get back to regular blogging this week! POSNA Annual Meeting 2016 POSNA is the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America.  This organization […]

World Congenital Forum

Once every three years, an international group comes together for approximately 3 days to discuss all things relevant to the care of children born with musculoskeletal differences.  In 2012, it was here in the United States, Dallas Texas to be specific.  In 2015, the 10th World Symposium on Congenital Malformations of the Hand and Upper […]

Hand Camp 2013

So, I am a little late with this post.  I originally wrote this summary about 9 months ago.  Somehow I neglected to post it. The 6th Annual Shriners St Louis Hand Camp was a clear success.  As always, the site was Camp Lakewood in Pitosi, Missouri- a YMCA camp.  This year, there were 15 families […]

Hand Society 2013

Last week was the annual meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in San Francisco.  As usual, it was a great meeting with an amazing collection of speakers giving paper presentations and courses on a variety of topics.  There were two presentations of congenital research from our institution (along with a number […]

POSNA

POSNA is the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America.  It is a wonderful organization of orthopaedic surgeons who care for children with orthopaedic birth, acquired, and traumatic injuries.  It was founded around 1970 and has grown over the last 40 years.  I recently became a member of POSNA and attended my first meeting in Toronto […]

September 2012 Travels

It has been too long since I last blogged.  Several catch- up blogs are on the way.  In the meanwhile, I have been to several interesting events in the last month. First, we had our annual St Louis Shriners Hospital Hand Camp.   There were approximately 18 children with their families, 10 junior counselors, and […]

World Symposium on Congenital Malformation

Wow!  I had to write to share my recent experience at the World Symposium on Congenital Malformation of the Hand and Upper Limb.  This meeting is held once every three years and this year was in the United States in Dallas Texas, hosted by Marybeth Ezaki and Scott Oishi and the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. […]

Ho Chi Minh City

I am sitting in the Tokyo airport awaiting my plane to fly back to the USA.  Had a great 4 days in Vietnam with an international group of congenital hand surgeons.  I was flattered to be asked to join the meeting.  I arrived a day early so had a chance to tour Ho Chi Minh […]

Las Vegas and Potosi- What do these 2 cities have in common?

Recently, I took two hand surgery related trips.  First, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand was in Las Vegas at the beginning of September this year.  Not my favorite city but certainly a good place for a conference.  This meeting is always very educational and provides a wonderful forum for discussion on general […]