September is Women in Medicine month. The Department of Surgery communications team is leading a campaign throughout September in an effort to highlight women surgeons, faculty, residents, staff, advanced practice providers and fellows.
Brook Cahill, MD, knew it was time to return to her home state of Indiana once she learned about the newly established hand surgery fellowship program in the Department of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine.
After spending six years of residency in Galveston, Texas at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Cahill couldn't turn down the opportunity to return to Indiana to receive top-tier surgical training and to be a part of the inaugural class of hand surgery fellows at IU School of Medicine.
“The hand fellowship at IU was new, but I was impressed by the dedication Joshua Adkinson, MD, and other faculty members put forth to set up the program for success,” said Cahill. “The hand surgery fellowship exceeded my expectations in all ways as this has been the best year of education and training in my experience.”
The hand surgery fellowship program provides board-eligible plastic and orthopedic surgeons with a year of advanced training in upper extremity surgery. Fellows gain expertise in both plastic and orthopedic hand surgery, with opportunities in elbow, shoulder, microsurgery, and peripheral nerve procedures while building strong professional relationships and mentorship connections.
For Cahill, the program aligned perfectly with her goal of making an impact through providing quality care for a part of the body that is essential to function in everyday life.
“With hand surgery, I feel I can make a difference in patients’ lives every day,” said Cahill. “Unfortunately, people take for granted the importance of their hands and don’t realize the dependency until an injury occurs. When I can return someone to function, it is incredibly satisfying.”
Although Cahill’s surgical training experience was rewarding, it didn’t come without challenges. About two months into her fellowship, Cahill gave birth to her first child and was faced with the test of balancing her fellowship and family life.
“Coming back to work was of course a challenge, but the faculty were incredibly supportive,” said Cahill. “Finding a balance between fellowship and home life was hard, but I don’t think I could have been as successful at another program.”
Now a hand surgeon at IU Health Physicians Hand and Upper Extremity Program, Cahill is thankful for the life-long memories and connections the hand surgery fellowship program provided her.
“I enjoyed developing close relationships with operating room team members at Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children and IU Health Methodist Hospital,” said Cahill. “We also had many experiences outside of formal education including a homemade dinner at the home of department faculty member, Anthony Archual, MD, where we discussed what to consider when going into practice. These candid conversations between myself, my co-fellow and faculty were things I will take with me when starting as a new surgeon.”
