Jason E. Hsu, MD, Fellowship Director
Albert O. Gee, MD
Frederick A. Matsen, III, MD
Corey J. Schiffman, MD
University of Washington Medical Center
Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
1959 NE Pacific Street, Room BB1015, Box 356500, Seattle, WA 98195
Phone: 206-543-3690
Fax: 206-685-3139
E-mail: fwesterb@uw.edu
Website: www.orthop.washington.edu
All application materials should be submitted directly through the SF Match website: SF Match – Orthopaedic Shoulder & Elbow
Application Deadline Date: November 1, 2025
Number of Fellows: 2 fellows per year
Fellowship Description:
The Shoulder and Elbow Service at the University of Washington Medical Center is dedicated to the highest quality patient care, teaching, and research in service of patients with conditions of the shoulder and elbow that compromise their comfort and function.
Please visit our shoulder fellowship website (https://orthop.washington.edu/education/shoulder-elbow-fellowship.html) for a detailed description of our program as well as our blog of current information on the shoulder: http://shoulderarthritis.blogspot.com/
Faculty
We invite you to get to know our primary faculty:
Albert Gee: https://orthop.washington.edu/faculty-profiles/albert-o-gee-md.html
Jason Hsu: https://orthop.washington.edu/faculty-profiles/jason-e-hsu-md.html
Frederick Matsen: https://orthop.washington.edu/faculty-profiles/frederick-a-matsen-iii-md.html
Corey Schiffman: https://orthop.washington.edu/faculty-profiles/corey-schiffman-md.html
Clinical
The fellowship experience at UW provides a comprehensive, hands-on surgical experience for each of our fellows. Our patients come from a wide and diverse geographical area, spanning multiple states in the Pacific Northwest: Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and Alaska. This patient base provides for a broad clinical experience, with approximately 2,000 shoulder and elbow surgeries per year of which 39% are arthroscopic procedures (in both the beach chair and lateral positions), 28% are arthroplasties, 11% are for fractures, and 17% are for a variety of other shoulder and elbow problems.
Our Fellows are involved in a large volume of primary shoulder arthroplasties and arthroscopic surgeries. In addition, due to the catchment area across the Pacific Northwest, a large number of the most complex primary and revision surgeries are sent to our tertiary care center. Our Fellows learn not only how to perform the most effective, evidence-based surgical procedures, but also how to think about and manage each individual patient.
Teaching
Our weekly experience includes a Monday morning indications conference in which every case for the upcoming week is reviewed. Cases from the previous week are reviewed to enhance understanding of surgical principles as well as learn technical tips and tricks. A Wednesday morning teaching conference includes a variety of attending didactics, journal clubs, fellow presentations, and research meetings. Cadaver and dry laboratories are held to allow the Fellows to practice arthroscopic and open reconstructive procedures in a quality laboratory setting.
Research
We are actively engaged in a wide variety of research focused on developing more effective methods for evaluating and managing the disabling conditions of our patients. We actively maintain a prospective shoulder arthroplasty database with over 2,000 patients undergoing primary and revision shoulder arthroplasty consented to be followed for 20 years. We also maintain a repository of Propionibacterium isolates used to study methods of prevention and treatment of periprosthetic infection and host a multicenter database of over 1,000 revision arthroplasties. Our fellows play a critical role in analyzing and interpreting the information from these databases in order to transform patient care.
The Experience
Our fellows have faculty appointments as acting instructors at the University of Washington Medical Center. The one-year in-depth clinical experience is initially closely supervised but progresses to increasingly independent decision-making and surgical experience. The fellows are expected to participate actively in the teaching of medical students and residents, as well as in continuing medical education opportunities. The weekly experience includes clinic, the operating room, and research. Fellows participate in several cadaver arthroscopy labs throughout the year as well as journal club, resident anatomy lab, lectures, and other scholarly activities. Fellows are expected to complete and publish several laboratory and/or clinical research projects during the year.
Qualifications
The fellowship candidate must have completed a certified residency program in orthopaedics at the time the fellowship is started. The candidate should have a strong commitment to excellence in clinical care as well as a desire to become a future leader in our field and a member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons.
Conclusion
We are most proud of the accomplishments of our past fellows, now numbering over 60. They have taken positions across the nation and around the world. It is a pleasure to watch them continue to grow and develop the future of our field.