H. Kirk Watson, M.D.

H. Kirk Watson, M.D. is a board certified Orthopaedic surgeon, certified in hand surgery. He was taken into the American Society for Surgery of Hand in 1971 when only two to four of the world's hand surgeons were accepted each year. He is the author of extensive scientific peer review publications and articles. He is the most published author in the Journal of Hand Surgery since its inception. The "Watsonian" approach to postoperative care was introduced in the early seventies.

Dr. Watson is the founder and first president of the New England Hand Society. He is the founder and still chief of the Connecticut Combined Hand Surgery Fellowship Training Program, centered at Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut. Dr. Watson has trained 134 hand surgeons. These hand surgeons are accepted through the National Match Program for a year in hand surgery. Dr. Watson was the Orthopaedist of the Year in the Connecticut State Medical Society in 2000. He has been listed in Best Doctors of America since its inception. He has been chosen by his peers and is the only listed hand surgeon chosen by Hartford Magazine's Peer Review Study.

Duffield Ashmead M.D.

Dr. Ashmead is a board certified plastic surgeon with a certificate of added qualification in surgery of the hand. His practice is limited to the care of the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow. He has particular interest in congenital hand issues and other problems affecting children.

Originally from Philadelphia, Dr. Ashmead completed his undergraduate training at Princeton before attending Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. After preliminary general surgical training here at Hartford Hospital, Dr. Ashmead pursued a one year fellowship in surgery of the hand (University of Connecticut), residency training in plastic and reconstructive surgery (University of Massachusetts), and an additional eighteen months of fellowship training including six months at the Hospital for Sick Children, London, England. Dr. Ashmead has held teaching appointments at the University of Massachusetts and at Yale; he is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery and Orthopaedics at the University of Connecticut. Having published a variety of scientific articles and book chapters, he remains active in clinical research, and the teaching of residents and postgraduate fellows. He is co-director of the Division of Hand Surgery at Hartford Hospital and also at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

Daniel Mastella M.D.

Dr. Mastella a Connecticut native cares for upper extremity problems from shoulder to fingertips. He did his undergraduate training at Georgetown University and attended medical school at the University of Connecticut. His postgraduate training was in Orthopaedic surgery at the University of Connecticut Residency Program. He then completed a sub specialty fellowship in hand surgery at the Philadelphia Hand Center, working at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Shriner's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Connecticut and a facility member at the Connecticut Combined Hand Surgery Fellowship. He has publications and presentations in nerve and tendon reconstruction and arthritis of the elbow, wrist and hand. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Arthroscopy Association of North America, a member of the New England Hand Society and a founding member of the New England Shoulder and Elbow Society.