HSS Upper Extremity Athlete Fellowship

The HSS Upper Extremity Athlete Fellowship is an unaccredited, clinically-based training program.

The mission of the fellowship is to provide physical therapists with a comprehensive program designed to improve the mobility and quality of life of overhead athletes. Through advanced clinical training, mentorship, and on-field experience, the program prepares participants to deliver elite-level patient care in high-performance sports clinical environments and work in Major League Baseball.

Application Form (pdf)

Admissions Process

Applications are evaluated by the Upper Extremity Fellowship Director and faculty based on:

• Admission criteria listed above
• Academic and clinical education, continuing education, and other relevant experience
• Clinical experience in sports medicine/rehabilitation
• Verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstration of leadership, professionalism, and commitment

All applicants are screened prior to interview selection and admission into the fellowship program. The Fellowship Director and faculty select the top candidates each year based on the criteria described above. In accordance with hospital policy, all employment-related decisions, including program recruitment, admission, retention, and dismissal, are made without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, national origin, marital status, age (18 or older), disability, veteran status, citizenship status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the HSS Upper Extremity Athlete Fellowship is designed to provide each candidate with a comprehensive program consisting of didactic and clinical experiences, with a focus on the upper extremity with exposure to all core and lower extremity injuries. The fellow will receive guidance and mentoring from physicians, sports rehab and performance staff at Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York Mets Baseball Club. Curriculum consists of literature reviews, readings, didactic modules which cover a variety of topics in the overhead athlete, lab sessions focusing on evaluation and treatment of the overhead athlete, case reviews, research and teaching opportunities as well as physician clinic and surgery observation.

The fellowship program will require participants to complete a minimum of 1,000 total program hours which includes 150 educational hours and 850 patient-care clinical hours inclusive of 150 hours of 1:1 mentoring throughout the program. Throughout the program each fellow will have individualized guidance on current best practices, patient care and evidence-based practice.

HSS Sports Rehabilitation and Performance West Side will be the clinical site for this fellowship. The fellow will travel to Port St. Lucie, FL in February where they will spend the remainder of their fellowship with the New York Mets under the guidance of their Major and Minor league rehabilitation specialists.

Program Goals

• Develop the fellow into an advanced clinical specialist in the subspecialty of overhead athlete rehabilitation, with expertise in evaluation, treatment, workload management, and return-to-play decision-making across operative and non-operative conditions.
• Prepare the fellow to function as an effective educator through teaching, mentorship, and professional communication within clinical, academic and sports medicine environments.
• Foster professional behaviors consistent with advanced practice in sports physical therapy, including ethical practice, accountability, collaboration, and effective communication within multidisciplinary teams.
• Deliver a cohesive, high-quality educational experience that integrates tertiary-care clinical training at HSS with immersive on-field and training-room experience within professional baseball.
• Ensure long-term sustainability of the fellowship through effective program administration, faculty engagement, institutional support and continuous program evaluation.
• Prepare the fellow for successful transition into professional baseball or elite overhead-athlete practice through immersive field experience, mentorship and career readiness development.

Program Outcomes

• The fellow will demonstrate clinical competence in upper extremity and overhead athlete rehabilitation.
• The fellow will receive sufficient clinical exposure to upper extremity and overhead athlete populations to support subspecialty development.
• The fellow will demonstrate educator skills through structured teaching and fellowship education activities and contribute to scholarly activity in upper extremity and overhead athlete physical therapy.
• The fellow will demonstrate professional behavior consistent with advanced practice standards in sports physical therapy.
• The fellow will receive a cohesive educational experience integrating HSS clinical training with professional baseball field and training-room exposure.
• The fellow will demonstrate preparedness for a transition into professional baseball or elite overhead-athlete practice.

Contact for additional information

Terrance Sgroi, PT, DPT, SCS, MTC, Fellowship Director at sgroit@hss.edu.