Hand

The University of Toronto Hand Program started in 1986 as Canada’s first Hand Program and is located at the Toronto Western Hospital. It is a combined Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery program.

Drs. Heather Baltzer (Director), Steve McCabe, Herb von Schroeder, Dimitri Anastakis, Ryan Paul, and Andrea Chan are all full-time members of this program who are all cross-appointed between both the Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery Divisions. Our skilled Surgeons all have subspecialty fellowship training in Hand Surgery. Our team also includes a Clinical Researcher (Dr. C. Novak), a Hand Physician (Dr. M. Schofield), and eight Hand Therapists.

It is our mission to foster excellence in education and research pertaining to conditions of the hand. The Hand Program is dedicated to the education of medical students, surgical residents, and fellows who form an integral part of our team. Both Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery residents rotate through our program.

  • We offer a 12-month subspecialty Hand fellowship.
  • Hand Educational Rounds are held every Thursday morning, and topics range from difficult and unusual hand cases to lectures and invited speakers.
  • Hand Instructional Sessions are held every Wednesday afternoon, and topics range from hand and wrist examination to oral examination preparation.
  • We sponsor and organize continuing medical education activities.

Together with our strategic partners and with our growing research programs, we continue to build the future of Hand Surgery.

Our practices are focused on highly specialized areas within adult hand surgery and combined, we cover a broad spectrum of reconstructive problems, hand trauma, arthritis surgery including small joint arthroplasty, and peripheral nerve problems. We see the entire spectrum of hand trauma and perform over 40 replantation procedures for fingers or hands per year. Our care for microsurgical patients is facilitated by a dedicated microsurgical unit that provides optimal conditions and dedicated nursing staff and allied healthcare professionals for our patients. As such, residents and fellows gain excellent exposure and experience in microvascular techniques.

Hand clinics run daily (Monday to Friday) for emergency patients, follow-up care and new consultations (by appointment). All of our physicians have specific areas of interest that include: carpal instability, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Dupuytren’s contracture, brachial plexus injuries, and upper extremity reanimation.