The Upper Hand: Chuck & Chris Talk Hand Surgery Interesting Travels and Listener Feedback
Mar 15, 2026
They recount international travel to a major hand surgery symposium and a visiting professorship at a top hand center. They describe live lab challenges, surgical teaching moments, and practical troubleshooting. They address listener feedback about operating room efficiency and explain process improvements that expand patient access. They mention research collaboration and how they approach rare, complex cases.
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Immersive Microsurgery Training At Ganga Hospital
- Charles Goldfarb described visiting Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore and attending the World Congenital Symposium with high-quality surgical videos and efficient microsurgery practice.
- He noted Ganga's scale (650 beds expanding to 1,000), immersion training for trainees, and two simultaneous pan-plexus cases in the OR as memorable examples.
Live Plexus Lab Mishap Turned Teaching Moment
- Chris Dy recounted his Curtis National Hand Center visiting professorship where he lectured on nerve transfers and performed a live plexus dissection for ~30 trainees.
- He forgot his loops, initially struggled to find the plexus, then adapted by tracing it from the clavicular region and completed the session successfully.
Airport Security Nearly Took Surgical Tools In India
- Charles recounted Indian airport security flagging his surgical loops because of Allen wrenches in the case; they confiscated the wrenches but left the loops.
- He emphasized the stress of potentially losing essential surgical tools when traveling internationally.