Application Form

2025-2026 Fellowship

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Bunnell Fellowship is to provide scholarship funding for early-career Hand Surgeon to pursue an educational or academic goal that requires national and international collaboration, and which fosters the principles of scholarship of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. In the role as ambassador for ASSH, it is anticipated that the Bunnell Fellow, their hosts, and the respective Hand Societies will mutually benefit from the stimulation of collaborative research directions, expansion of academic opportunities, and the development of lifelong relationships with our national and international colleagues.

The Bunnell Committee expects applicants to develop a fellowship theme that clearly delineates a specific area of clinical interest, a scientific pursuit, or an educational mission that the applicant would like to investigate during the Fellowship. The itinerary should be purposely designed to include those individuals in national or international centers who would best fulfill the applicant’s Fellowship theme. The Bunnell Fellow will be expected to present a scientific report of their Fellowship theme in the context of the Fellowship travels at the following year's Annual Meeting of the ASSH (2026 in Boston, MA).

Application for the Fellowship should include a detailed, one-page description of the scientific theme to be pursued during the Bunnell Fellowship. The statement should specifically describe the planned objectives of your Fellowship, and the persons or institutions that you plan to visit to fulfill your Fellowship goals.  It is important to complete and submit a budget and timeline, as funding for the Fellowship is limited to $20,000.00.  Bunnell Fellows are strongly encouraged to stay within the budgetary guidelines.  

SELECTION

The Committee will select the Bunnell Fellow based on the applicant’s scholarship, ASSH contributions, and the strength of the proposed collaborative project.  The new Bunnell fellow will be notified shortly before the Annual Meeting.

PREREQUISITES

1.     The applicant must have completed a fellowship in hand surgery.

2.     The hand surgery fellowship (or residency, if taken after fellowship) must have been completed between June 30, 2015 and the present.

3.     Applicants must be Active Members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and must apply within seven years following election to ASSH Active Membership.  2025 applicants must have joined ASSH in 2017 or later.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Complete the application, which begins below.  If you have previously applied for the Fellowship, you may submit a copy of your previous application, attaching an addendum describing your activities since that time.  It is recommended, however, that you obtain current letters of recommendation.

2. Along with your application, please submit the following:

• Recent headshot
• CV (it is very important that the sequence of information be in the order outlined here)
• One-page description of the scientific theme to be pursued during the Bunnell Fellowship, including your objectives
• Budget and timeline, including the institutions/individuals you would like to visit

3. Obtain letters of recommendation from two sponsors. You may submit up to two additional letters if they directly related to your proposed fellowship theme. One sponsor should be the hand surgeon under whose tutelage you have served the majority of your fellowship; the other should be a hand surgeon who is familiar with your work during the past two years. Both must be members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. You may submit up to two additional letters if they directly relate to your proposed fellowship theme. (Letters may not be provided by members of the ASSH Executive Committee)

DEADLINE: MAY 19, 2025.